


Wicked Paths

by Bay



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-01-19 08:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1462843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward, Winry, and their three children go to South City for a short family vacation. While there, they stumble upon an elder lady that claims her late father was friends with Hohenheim when they had explored Aerugo together and discovered valuable alchemy notes there. The family then ends up crossing the border with Edward curious what type of alchemy research his father had done in that country.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the [2013-2014 FMA Big Bang](http://fmabigbang.livejournal.com/). Thanks to Thunderflames for the great art and Sonjajade for the awesome betaing!

Business at Winry's shop had been booming the past several months, which she was grateful for as competition tended to get stiff at Rush Valley. That meant more money set aside for expenses, like buying more advanced automail parts. There were instances she had to pull an all-nighter to get a prosthetic fixed, but seeing a client's wide grin was always worth it.  
  
This morning, she worked on fixing a leg with Joseph, a teenage apprentice she took under her wing four months ago. He got interested in automail at a very young age and moved to Rush Valley to gain more experience. Winry thought he was an intelligent young man and would become an excellent mechanic.   
  
"Is there anything else we need to do with that leg?" Joseph asked as the pair looked at the blueprint together. The leg they finished wiring was set aside on the work table.  
  
"Only thing is new fiberglass plating." Winry took a quick glance at the clock on the wall to see that it was nearing one o' clock. Ed would probably come inside the workshop to announce lunch very soon. Looking back at Joseph, she said, "We can go get that later, it's almost lunch time."   
  
Joseph stretched his arms, grinning at her. "Good, my stomach’s growling!"   
  
That made Winry chuckle. She and Joseph left the workshop and headed toward the kitchen. Inside, Ed was next to the oven, stirring something on a pot, while their three children sat and waited for their meal. The spoons and glasses of lemonade were already set on the table.   
  
"How much longer do we hafta wait?" Jane, the youngest child, asked with a pout expression on her face.   
  
"Yeah, we're all starving!" Henry whined dramatically.   
  
"It's just about done." Ed looked over his shoulder and smiled at Winry and Joseph. "I'm making beef stew today. You guys go ahead and grab a seat!"   
  
The both of them settled into their seats. Shortly after, lunch was ready and Ed handed everyone their bowls. Winry immediately chewed a piece of beef, letting out a satisfied moan. She glanced around to see the others looking just as pleased.  
  
"You always make great stew, Dad!" Esther said. Her siblings nodded in agreement.   
  
Ed grinned. "Glad to hear that, Esther."  
  
As everyone ate their stew in silence, Winry thought about how Ed enjoyed fatherhood a lot and was more than happy to look over the kids while she worked. The past year Ed taught Henry and Esther the concepts of alchemy, even though he couldn't use it anymore, and loved every moment of it--Ed had told her how they were very fast learners. Winry was certain her husband wouldn't trade this for the world.  
  
"You know, Winry," Ed said, interrupting Winry's thoughts, "it's been a while since we had a family vacation."  
  
Winry was about to devour another piece of beef, only to have her spoon stop midway when she heard that. She wondered why he brought that up all of a sudden.  
  
"Now that you mentioned it, our last vacation was before Jane was born."  
  
Ed nodded and drank some of his lemonade. "Well, you had been working very hard for a while and I think all of us could go somewhere for a few days."   
  
Winry considered her husband's suggestion a moment. Indeed she had been very busy in the workshop, but she didn't mind it at all and appreciated Joseph's help very much. Of course, it was always good to relax time to time. She was due for a well-deserved rest and it was generous of Ed to say that.  
  
"You're right, the whole family should take a vacation," she said and smiled. An idea then came to her. "Joseph can come with us, too!"  
  
At that instant, Joseph laughed nervously while waving his hands fanatically. "I don't think it's a good idea. This is supposed to be a family vacation, you guys don't want me to trouble you."  
  
"Nonsense! You did a lot since becoming my apprentice, so you also should take some time off."  
  
"If you don't want to join us, you can go visit your parents at East City," Ed said. "I'm sure they'll love that."  
  
A low gasp left Joseph, but he smiled after. "Perhaps I'll do that, then." He then went back to eating his stew.   
  
"Let's go to Xing again!" Esther said. "Emperor Yao's palace is amazing and I want to meet Lan Fan again."  
  
Staring at her, Henry said, "Xing is too far, though! How about Creta? We can go fishing!"  
  
Esther glared back. "I don't like the ocean and I'm scared of sharks. Xing instead!"  
  
"No, Creta!"  
  
That prompted Esther and Henry to exchange shouts of "Xing" and "Creta" to one another. Jane blinked in confusion while Joseph chuckled. Winry heard her husband sigh and she felt the same way.  
  
"All right you two, that's enough," she said in a stern voice. Instantly, Esther and Henry stopped their arguing. "I'm thinking we should go somewhere within the borders as it'll take a few days through train to go either of those countries."  
  
"I agree," Ed said. "We don't need to go to another country. If you want, Henry, there's a lake a short drive from Central."  
  
Henry gave his father a disappointed look. "But the ocean and sharks are more exciting."  
  
"Your sister doesn't agree with that, though." Winry giggled and stretched her hand over his son’s head, messing his hair. "Going to Central isn't a bad idea, actually. Maybe I'll talk to Ms. Hughes and ask if she knows any events going on soon."  
  
Later that night, Winry decided to go to the bedroom to call Ms. Hughes. It had been several days since their last conversation, so it was great talking to her again. She eventually told her about what she and Ed discussed earlier that day.   
  
"Oh, so you, Ed, and the kids are deciding to take a vacation soon?" Ms. Hughes asked, sounding very interested.  
  
"Yup! We aren't sure where to go, though."   
  
When it grew quiet on the other line, Winry assumed Ms. Hughes was pondering over where she and the family should go. A few more seconds passed until she spoke again.  
  
"I know! Why don't all of you come to South City for the upcoming summer carnival?”  
  
"Summer carnival? Oh right, that comes every year but I’ve never been to one yet." For a while Winry always wanted to go to South City for that, but she then got busy focusing on her automail engineering career and starting a family with Ed.   
  
"Elicia and I are going to South City to visit my relatives, but we’ll be checking out the carnival this year, too. It will be great if the whole family is there."  
  
A smile curled onto Winry's lips. "That would be very nice, indeed. When is the fair?"  
  
"It starts Friday next week and will last for over the weekend. That should be enough time to get prepared."   
  
Winry considered having the family vacation be at South City. There would be lots to do and see at the carnival. She also wanted to meet Elicia and Ms. Hughes after not seeing them for a while. She wasn't sure if Ed and the children would approve, though. The vacation should be something the whole family could agree on.   
  
"Let me talk with everyone about this first," she said after making her decision. "I'll let you know if we'll come or not."   
  
"That's fine, dear. Looking forward to hearing from you again."  
  
"Me too. You have a good evening." Winry had put the phone back on the nightstand after she hung up.   
  
"Were you talking to Ms. Hughes?"  
  
Surprised by the voice, she twisted over her shoulder to see Ed stepped inside the bedroom while holding Jane against his chest. Their youngest child had her arms around Ed's neck. Winry offered them a smile.   
  
"I was. She told me about the upcoming summer carnival at South City."  
  
“A carnival, huh?” Ed sat down beside Winry and had Jane seated on his lap. “It does sound like something fun for all of us.”  
  
"Mommy, what’s a carnival?" Jane asked as she titled her head.   
  
"It's a festival where everybody goes to have fun and relax,” Winry said. “There will be lots of games, rides, and food.”   
  
Her daughter's face lit up in excitement. "Oh, like that one bedtime story you and Daddy told me!"  
  
Winry nodded and chuckled. "Yes, exactly like that.”  
  
Before she could explain more, Henry and Esther quietly stepped inside the bedroom. Both siblings looked at their parents in anticipation.   
  
"Are we really going to a carnival?" Esther asked, beaming.  
  
"We're discussing that right now," Ed said.  
  
"Can we?" This time Henry asked. "I want to play some games and see the fireworks!"   
  
Winry stayed quiet, waiting for Ed's response. She gazed at him while he thought hard over this. If he decided against it, she was certain that would break the children's hearts. Fortunately that wouldn't be the case when a wide grin stretched across his face.  
  
"All right, we can go to South City for our family vacation!"  
  
There was a sudden burst of celebration in the bedroom. Jane cheered as she raised her arms up high. Henry and Esther let out joyful shouts as well and rushed towards their mother for a hug, which she gladly accepted. Now she was just as excited as her children and Ed over their upcoming trip.  
  
+++  
  
Most nights before bed, Daria Cireno would read something out of enjoyment.   
  
Many times it would be a novel, adventure stories being her favorite. She always loved the different settings and fast paced action that kept her turning to the next page. Often though it would be history books and books on real-life archeological accounts, several of them were from her late father—he gave them to her when she had revealed her interest in archeology to him long ago. Those books were just as exciting.  
  
Tonight she was in the living room and settled on a couch, reading a book on one of the archeological findings in the 1800s from Xing. Several of Emperor Yung Cho’s priceless possessions were discovered deep in a mountain cave where he hid them. Years later, the artifacts were put in a museum at Xing’s capital. Daria thought that particular event was interesting.  
  
“You’re still up late, dear?”  
  
Upon hearing her husband Norman’s voice, Daria tore her eyes off the page and looked up to see him grinning at her. She offered him a smile in return.   
  
“I was just reading some of my father’s books,” Daria said as she slowly closed the book, putting it on the coffee table. “Xing always have interesting findings.”  
  
Norman chuckled. “That country does have its share of surprises.”   
  
A moment of silence stretched between them. After Norman sat down next to Daria, his smile faded into a frown. She wondered if there was something upsetting him and if so there was anything she could do.   
  
“I want you to be careful on your trip,” he then said.  
  
A stunned gasp left Daria’s throat. A while back, she told her husband about a trip she planned to take fairly soon. Now that she had almost everything prepared, Daria decided to set off in two weeks. She found it strange, as Norman usually wasn’t worried whenever she was away.  
  
“I’ve been through many archeological expeditions before.”  
  
“I know, but this one is more personal and I can’t help but feel worried.”  
  
Daria dragged in a heavy sigh and jerked her automail arm, which replaced the one she lost long ago. It was understandable he would be concerned for her over this particular trip. This one she was going to find something out for herself related to her father’s past expeditions. Still, it shouldn’t be different than the other times she traveled. She gazed back at her husband.  
  
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”   
  
A few seconds passed until a soft smile tugged onto Norman’s lips. “All right, I trust you.”  
Daria responded by giving Norman a quick kiss on the cheek. She was very glad to hear that from him.   
  
“I just thought of something. Why don’t we go to the upcoming carnival together? We hadn’t gone out to relax in a while.”  
  
Since their move to South City over three years ago, they haven’t gone to the yearly carnival due to their busy schedules. Daria thought this might be a fun thing to do while they still have some free time together.   
  
“That’s a great idea, actually,” Norman said. “When is it again?”  
  
“In two weeks. We go to the carnival and then I leave for my trip.”   
  
“It’s a date, then,” he said and squeezed Daria’s flesh hand gently. She looked forward to that.


	2. Chapter 2

Ed forgot how much of a hassle planning a vacation was.

He first had to call several hotels and inns at South City to see if there were any rooms available, only to find out almost all of them were full due to the carnival. Luckily he booked a room for the family at an inn called _The Sleepy Bear_. He and Winry also talked about the budget for the trip as most of the money would go towards the train tickets, hotel, and food. Ed was certain there would be more than enough for everyone to spend on something fun, but he agreed with his wife that they shouldn’t get too carried away. There was then the packing and which stuff they needed. The two one night argued over how many clothes and which ones they should bring. Besides clothes they decided on books, snacks, and other essentials. He never liked packing as it often took him a while to organize and make sure everything fit inside the luggage.

Two weeks after the family decided on the carnival, the trip was finally set. Everyone including Joseph went to Rush Valley's Train Station and today it was fairly more busy than usual. Ed saw around five people boarding the train to South City and several more waiting on benches, either waiting on another train or someone else. Today was fairly warm, so everyone outside wore light clothing. He and Winry were trying to calm the kids down before going to the train.

“Jane, Esther, stay still!” Ed said as his daughters were leaping around. 

“Carnival, carnival!” Jane said cheerfully, not paying attention to what their father had said.

Winry wiggled a finger at them and said, “If you two don’t do as you’re told, we’re leaving the train station.”

That made both sisters stopped and hung their heads down. Ed sighed in relief, glad that had them quiet for now.

“Have you ever gone to a carnival before, Joseph?” Henry asked.

“A few times, yes. My favorite game is ‘The Duck Shoot’, where you have to shoot ducks while they’re rotating. The more you hit your targets, the better the prize you get.”

“Cool! What else?”

“Well, carnivals have lots of rides, so it’s best to not go on them when you have a full stomach or else you’ll throw up.”

Henry nodded. “Don’t eat a lot before going on rides. Got it!”

An amused smile graced Winry’s lips. Facing Joseph, she said, "I’m sure you’re excited to go see your family again.” 

"Very much so.” Joseph let out a chuckle. “I can’t wait to eat my mom’s cooking again. She makes the best peach cobbler ever!”

“Sounds great,” Ed said and gave a smile of his own. He then asked, “When is your train arriving?”

"It won't be here for another hour or so, but at least I brought a book to read," Joseph said and had a small smile pulled on his lips.

Ed made an acknowledged sound. He grew to liking his wife's apprentice the more they spoke. His children also enjoyed Joseph's company very much and got along with him nicely. Ed was happy he decided to visit his family at East City.

"Here's the phone number of our room so you can call us when you make it to East City," he said and handed him the piece of paper with the number scribbled on it. 

"I will for sure," Joseph said as he accepted the paper and nodded. He folded it in half, putting it on the pocket of his pants. Right after, Ed heard the conductor announcing loudly the train to South City would leave in five minutes. 

"Let's go, let's go, or else we'll miss the train!" Esther said when she tugged the sleeve of Ed's shirt.

Joseph laughed at Ether’s excitement. He watched Ed and Winry gather the children and waved. “You guys have fun on your trip! Win me something, okay?”

Winry waved back, smiling. “We’ll try! You have fun, too!” 

It was time for everyone to leave now. The family stepped inside the train and went to their seats. As the train was pulling out, he saw Henry climbed onto his seat to look out of the window and wave his hand. 

"Bye, Joseph!" he shouted.

Some hours passed by, the whole time the children kept asking if they were there yet every ten minutes. They still bounced up and down when it was their bedtime and Ed wasn’t sure if they would go to sleep at this rate. He knew the children were very excited, but this was getting ridiculous.

“Are we there yet?” Henry asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. 

Ed rubbed his forehead, feeling another headache coming in. “Again, no.”

“We don’t get to South City until tomorrow,” Winry said, sounding just as drained and irritated. “Right now it’s time for you guys to go sleep.” 

“But we’re not tired!” Esther said and folded her arms against her arms. 

“I don’t want to hear any complaints. Bed this instant, all of you.”

The kids whined, but nonetheless they reluctantly did as they were told. Henry and Esther slept on the seat with their heads on a pillow while Jane rested on Ed's lap and a blanket covering her. He smiled down on her, a finger caressing her cheek. 

"Did you let Ms. Hughes know we're coming to South City before we left?" Ed asked and glanced at Winry, who was reading a book. That got her attention, as she immediately took her eyes from it to gaze at him.

"I did, yes," she said and smiled brightly. "I let her know we'll be there Thursday night the latest. She and Elicia are already seeing their relatives.”

"That's great to hear." Ed knew how much she wanted to see those two again, and he felt the same way, too. They had been very generous to him and Al back when they traveled around Amestris, so the brothers tried to come visit them whenever they get the chance. "I can't wait to see them."

They were quiet a moment until Winry said, "I wonder if we'll run into Fuhrer Mustang and Riza at the carnival, also."

Upon hearing that, Ed snorted. "I doubt it. It would be funny to see Mustang embarrassing himself during one of the games." He already imagined him doing badly tossing rings. 

"Ed," Winry warned while glaring at him. 

"What? Admit it, that would be hilarious."

Winry responded by rolling her eyes. She then said, "I still think we should pay them a visit someday."

This time Ed's face softened. Both men had their fair share of bickering throughout the years, but there was no denying he owed him for everything he, along with Riza, had done for him and his brother. He remembered a few years ago smiling proudly the announcement of Mustang officially Fuhrer of Amestris. As long as he continued making the country a better place and still moving it forward to a democracy, he would keep supporting him no matter what. 

"You’re right, we should," he said. Not long after, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Ed was woken up by his kids a few hours later to ask once more if they were there yet. 

+++

In the evening next day the train reached its destination. When the conductor announced they would be at South City within a few minutes, Ed and Winry prepared to get the carryon luggage. The train eventually stopped and they joined the crowd in filing orderly off the car before making it to the platform. South City's Train Station was much larger than the one at Rush Valley as there were many people rushing to board and get off the other trains. Although it had been a while since Ed last stepped foot here, it didn't surprise him the place would be this lively. He went down about ten cars to the luggage car, picking their stuff up out of the rows of luggage while his family waited behind him. 

As they headed toward the exit, everyone held hands so that no one would get lost. The children kept jumping up and down, unable to contain their excitement.

“Is everyone still holding hands?” Winry asked. She was in front, so Ed glanced over his shoulder to see the kids not letting go of each other’s hands. He made an affirmed “yes” sound for her.

“I have to pee!” Jane suddenly said and that caused everyone to halt.

“Right now?” Ed asked and gave his youngest child a raised eyebrow. When Jane nodded, he let out a defeated sigh. The family then went to search for a bathroom before they continued further through the train station. 

Everyone managed to get a taxi cab that could fit (and allowed) all of them inside and their luggage in the trunk. Ed sat in the front with the driver while Winry and the kids at the back—Jane had to sit on her mother's lap.

"So you guys are going to the summer carnival too, huh?" the cab driver asked during the ride. 

"We're here for a family vacation,” Winry said.

"Ah, I see. Most of the passengers I've driven so far said they're also here for that festival. It gets busy this time of year besides The Promised Day celebrations."

Ed nodded in silence. Back when Fuhrer Grumman took over the country, he insisted on the Promised Day to be remembered and Mustang continued with the yearly celebration after he retired. He went to the celebrations at Central with his family shortly after Esther was born, everyone enjoying the fireworks display. Mostly likely there would be another display in the carnival. 

"Will you be going to the carnival this year?" Esther asked. 

The cab driver chuckled. "Perhaps. I always checked it out every year." 

"Wow, all the buildings are huge!" Jane said in awe as she pointed out the window. Ed chuckled, thought seeing his daughter experience South City the first time was cute.

The rest of the ride the children asked the driver what were some of his favorite events and he mentioned the games along with live performances. A little while later the cab stopped at their inn and the family got off to get their luggage out of the trunk. Taking a quick look, Ed noted that the building was five stories tall and had a sign shaped like a bear with the words "The Sleepy Bear" written on it. 

After checking in with the clerk at the reception area, they took the elevator to the second floor where their room was. Everyone stepped inside as soon as they made it there and Ed heard his children shouted in joy. A polished desk, with a matching chair, sat between two queen sized beds that Ed thought should fit everyone—Jane can sleep with him and Winry in one of the beds. The warm lighting from the lamps gave the spacious room a cozy ambiance. Henry and Esther wasted no time climbing onto the nearest bed and bouncing. 

“Hey, no jumping on the bed you two!” Winry said in a sharp tone and that made the siblings stopped. Ed couldn’t help but laughed. 

“You heard what your mother said.” 

Henry and Esther gave disappointed sounds and immediately sat down. Their shoulders slumped. 

“Mommy, I’m hungry!” Jane whined.

“We’ll get something to eat in a few minutes,” Winry assured, smiling at her. “Let me call Ms. Hughes first to let her know we’re here, okay?”

Jane nodded and followed her mother to the other bed. While Winry was making the call, Ed sat down between Henry and Esther. 

“You guys are excited for tomorrow?” he asked as he threw his arms around their shoulders.

“Yes! Very!” Esther said and beamed. 

“You know when the fireworks will come?” Henry asked.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll find out soon enough.” 

+++

The next morning everyone woke up to the phone ringing. Winry picked it up and was happy to find out it was Joseph, telling her he made it safe to East City and that his parents were thrilled to see him. She told him that was great to hear and that everyone was going to the fair very soon. After they finished their short chat, Winry let her family know Joseph was fine. They then ate breakfast at the hotel before leaving for the fair. 

The event was supposed to be just at the edge of South City and a short walking distance from _The Sleepy Bear_. As everyone headed there, they passed by several people going to the same direction. She was reminded of the night before when the cab driver told them many people traveled to the city for the fair. 

“Are all of these people going to the carnival too?” Jane asked during the walk. 

“I believe so,” Winry said and squeezed her youngest daughter’s hand more firmly. 

It was another few moments until they finally reached their destination. Everyone paused to observe their surroundings in amazement. Many vendors lined up with a variety of games for everyone to play while several others were selling food and various items. Winry caught a glimpse of a father winning a large teddy bear for his two children and they cheered. Somewhere loud, cheerful music could be heard. 

“Wow, this looks awesome!” Henry said, a huge grin on his face. 

“Let’s have a look around, shall we?” Ed said while smiling at his son. 

The first hour they looked around a few booths and bought some things. Jane wanted a handmade necklace while Henry and Esther each had cotton candy. There was also one vendor offering beef on a stick that everyone tried—Winry loved the spicy flavor in it. They eventually stopped at a stand where a game of pitching the ball at the bottles was held at. She and Ed watched their two oldest children going against one another.

“I remember how Al and I would spar against one another to see who’s stronger,” Ed said, resting his elbow on the table. He mentioned that as their friendly competition against one another was similar to when he and Al practiced combat fighting together, Winry assumed.

“And me telling you to not ruin your automail.” She smirked and that made him laugh. 

“At least you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Ed’s face then softened. “In all seriousness, though, they’re already starting to be like Al and me.”

Winry hummed in agreement. Like the brothers, Esther and Henry may have their disagreement at times, but they do care for one another. She brought her attention back to the game and saw Henry able to knock out a pyramid of six bottles. The vender shouted “six bottles!” before handing him a large stuffed dragon. Henry held his prize up high and cheered.

“I want a dragon, too!” Esther narrowed her eyes at her brother. 

“I won it fair and square!” A smug expression stretched across his face.

“Henry’s right,” Ed said and placed a hand on her shoulder. Esther huffed, crossing her arms against her chest.

A slight frown tugged at Winry’s lips; she never liked seeing her children upset. She was about to say something, but left her mouth open when she heard a familiar voice.

“Edward, Winry!”

Winry twisted her body around to see Ms. Hughes and Elicia waving at them. She couldn’t help but notice Elicia was slighter taller than her mother now. Sometimes Winry forgot she was a teenager now and would need to get used to that. Releasing a joyful laugh, she jumped out of her seat to give Ms. Hughes and her daughter a warm hug. Ed and the children joined in soon after; he greeted them the same way. 

“My, your kids are all grown up, especially Jane,” Ms. Hughes told Winry and Ed. She then kneeled down to look straight at Jane. “You probably don’t remember me, but I held you once when you were a baby. It was back when I visited Rush Valley long ago. I hope we can become friends, though.”

Jane stared curiously at Ms. Hughes. A moment later, she smiled. “Sure!”

Ms. Hughes giggled at that response and patted Jane’s head. Smiling at the scene, Winry believed the two would get along just fine.

“You mind if I look at the program?” Ed suddenly asked Elicia, pointing to the brochure she had been holding.

Grinning, Elicia said, “Nope, go right ahead!” and handed him the brochure. Ed read through it and seconds later Winry saw his eyes perk up in interest. 

“It says here there’s going to be an alchemist show coming within an hour.”

Curious, Winry leaned her head over Ed’s shoulder to read the brochure herself. “Your father’s right,” she confirmed. 

Both siblings gave out excited gasps and then Esther asked eagerly, “Can we go, can we go?” 

Taking a moment to think, Winry knew this was something the whole family would enjoy. She wasn’t interested much in the more advanced details of alchemy like Ed and the kids, but appreciated those who were very talented in that field. 

“We can go to that together,” she finally said, smiling down at her children.

“All right!” Henry said, pumping his first in the air. Esther and Jane stretched her arms wide and cheered.

“I think Ms. Hughes and Elicia should join us,” Ed said and grinned.

“That’s a great idea!” Ms Hughes praised. She turned to face her daughter and asked, “Are you okay with that?” 

Elicia nodded. “Fine by me! We should start heading there now or else the stands will be full.” 

Everyone did what Elicia suggested and immediately headed to where the alchemist show was going to be held. Once they reached there, the stands began filling up. In front of the crowd was an open dirt area wide enough for the alchemists to perform their skills. Winry and the others sat on the second row.

“So cool!” Henry said. 

“I bet Al would love this,” Winry said, a part of her wishing he were here. Her husband grunted in acknowledgement. 

“Is he still teaching at Central City?” Elicia asked. Around two years ago Al took a teaching position as a lecturer at the university there and he enjoyed it very much; Winry was proud of him for how much he had accomplished.

“He is, yeah,” Ed said. “His students are fascinated by his travels out east and alkahestry.” 

“That’s wonderful,” Gracia said as her face softened.

As the group turned silent, Winry saw several more people coming up to the stands. She assumed they were rushing to the event now. 

“Winry, Winry Rockbell?”

Not expecting that, Winry flinched. She looked up and in front of her was an older lady with an automail left arm. Alongside her was a gentleman that she assumed to be her husband. It was likely the lady might be a former client if she knew her, but Winry wasn’t able to remember her yet and she was usually good at recognizing her clients.

“Yes, that’s me,” she said, still unsure how to respond.

“You probably don’t remember us as it’s been so long, but I’m Daria and this is my husband, Norman. I lost my arm from a carriage accident and I went to you and Garfiel to get a new one.”

So she knew Garfiel also. Winry left Garifel’s shop after she finished her apprenticeship and stay at Resembool to help out her grandmother. It wasn’t until several years later that she decided to move to Rush Valley and have her own shop there. That meant it had been over a decade since they last met—indeed it had been a long time. Winry couldn’t recall any other clients named Daria nor being involved in a carriage accident (car accidents, yes, but not carriage). Wait a minute, she started to sound familiar now…

“Daria Cireno?”

A grin stretched across Daria’s face. Letting out a short laugh, Winry rose out of her seat to embrace her. After they let go, she and Daria faced everyone.

“Everybody, this is Daria. She was one of my clients back when I was under Garfiel’s apprenticeship.” Winry next pointed her finger to each one as she continued speaking. “This is my husband, Edward, and our children, Henry, Esther, and Jane. And this is Ms. Gracia Hughes and her daughter, Elicia.”

Everyone greeted her with a wave and saying hello to her. Daria offered them a warm smile.

“My, what a lovely family you have,” Norman said, his expression similar to his wife.

“Why thank you,” Winry said in gratitude before she sat back down beside Ed.

“I admit, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Daria said. Afterward, she and her husband sat down between Ed and Ms. Hughes.

“Me neither. My family and I are on vacation.” She paused, remembering what Daria planned to do after she had her automail arm. “The last time we met, you said you were going to Xing for an archeological trip.”

“She did and the expedition was finished long ago,” Norman said and chuckled. 

“Oh, you’re an archeologist?” Ed asked Daria in great interest.

“I’m an archeological professor now at South City University, so I take trips with my students sometimes.” All of a sudden, Daria’s eyes flew wide and she looked at Ed carefully. “Wait, you’re Edward Elric, correct?”

Winry watched as her husband blinked and then smirked. It shouldn’t surprise her as everyone had heard of him—and Alphonse—at least.

“Of course!” he said in a haughty tone. She held herself from rolling her eyes.

“Also, your father was the late Van Hohenheim, yes?”

This time Ed stiffened. Winry was aware that Ed hadn’t mentioned his father to many people. Usually other alchemists and some folks at Resembool, including her grandmother, knew Hohenheim personally. That question caught her off guard too as the odds of a client of hers knowing Ed’s father was very rare. 

“She meant our grandpa, right?” Henry asked while tugging his father’s shirt. Behind him, his siblings looked on in slight interest. 

Ed gazed down at his son and said, “That’s right, Henry.” He then looked back at Daria. “And yes, Van Hohenheim was my father.”

“I asked because my father actually knew Hohenheim long ago.”

A shocked expression spread across Ed’s face. He asked instantly, “Are you sure?”

“I am. I still have my father’s journals from his travels at my home and he mentions him often.”

“How does your and Ed’s father knew each other?” Winry asked. She too wanted to know more about this.

“Daria’s family came from Aerugo,” Norman answered, “and her father was an archeologist. He was looking into famous sites relating to alchemy and stumbled upon Hohenheim during one of his journeys.”

When Ed didn’t immediately respond, Winry believed he was digesting everything he found out so far. Even she was feeling the same way. 

“Considering Hoenheim lived a very long time and traveled a lot, it shouldn’t surprise me he stayed there for a while,” Ed said at last in a low voice. “He didn’t say much about his adventures as he was absent pretty much the whole time. It’s complicated.”

Winry frowned. That was also something Ed didn’t want to talk about much. He had come to terms with his father for a while now, but he still wished he was there for him and Alphonse during their younger years. She could sympathize that. 

“I see.” Daria nodded in understanding. Facing Winry, she said, “It would be wonderful Winry if you and your family come over to our house for lunch. I’m willing to discuss over my father and Hohenheim’s adventures.”

“I want to hear more tales of Grandpa!” Esther said in enthusiasm.

“Me too, me too!” Henry followed next.

“And me!” Jane added in last, beaming.

Norman burst in laughter. “Looks like your kids are excited.”

Pondering over Daria’s offer, Winry thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up. Since the plan was to stay over South City for three days, that might be the only chance to do so. Clearly her children wanted to go, but she wasn’t sure if Ed was fine with it. 

“I’m okay with it if Ed is,” Winry said as she gazed at him, waiting for his response.

“Sure,” Ed said and smiled a little. “It would be great to know more what Hohenheim had been up to at Aerugo.”

Grinning, Daria said, “Wonderful!” She then took out a pen and a piece of paper out from her bag, scribbling something down. “The house is at Grove Lane, a few blocks from the military academy. Be there by one.”

Daria handed Winry the paper; the address _2355 Grove Lane_ was written on it. A taxi should easily take her and the family there. Winry offered Daria a smile.

“Thank you. We’ll be there, for sure.”

“You and your daughter are invited too, Ms. Hughes,” Norman said. “The more, the merrier!”

“Thanks for the generous offer, but Elicia and I already have plans for tomorrow.” Behind Ms. Hughes, her daughter nodded in agreement.

“That’s too bad,” Daria said, sounding disappointed. “Perhaps next time.”

“The show is about to start!” Esther said fervently while pointing her finger at the field and that brought everyone’s attention over there. 

“Hello, and welcome to _The Amazing Amestrian Alchemist Show_ ,” the announcer said in front of the crowd, microphone in hand, “where several alchemists from around the world will perform their spectacular skills to you! I promise you all will be amazed! Up first is Conrad the mystifying metal alchemist all the way from Creta!”

After the announcer stepped aside, a young man entered the field. He started off immediately by punching on the ground and creating a large sandstorm. Everyone applauded and cheered.

During the performance, Winry wondered how the upcoming lunch would go tomorrow. For certain the kids would enjoy stories of Hohenheim and that gave Ed, as he mentioned already, a chance to know a little more of his father. So far this vacation went on an unexpected but good turn.


	3. Chapter 3

After _The Amazing Amestrian Alchemist Show_ , everyone said goodbye to Daria and Norman. Ed and his family hung out with the Hughes until it was time for the fireworks display. The mass of people that wanted to see the fireworks gathered close to the large lake. While Ed’s group waited, they all sat on the grass together. He listened to his children talking about their favorite moments of the show to him and Winry. 

“And the way he was able to make that water explosion was awesome!” Henry said. He raised his arms up like a wave and made a huge splashing sound.

“My favorite is the one that did the lightning strikes!” Esther said. “I want to do ones like those.”

“Maybe you will someday,” Ed said, giving his daughter a supportive smile. He then thought back to his encounter with the Cineros earlier today and how happy they were to meet everyone. This was the first time he met someone outside of Resembool that knew about Hohenheim. “Mr. and Mrs. Cinero seem like nice people, huh?” Ed asked Winry. 

“They are, yeah.” Winry smiled softly. “Daria was very generous when I fixed her automail arm. I look forward to the lunch tomorrow.”

“Are you nervous what you’ll find out about your father?” Elicia asked him. 

Ed leaned his head back a little, looking up at the night sky, and had his hand placed on the back of his neck. “I guess, somewhat. The only country I know he stayed for a while is at Xing, and it’s because he was the one that had influenced alkahestry.” 

Back when he traveled out west, no one mentioned his father’s name, which was odd now he thought about it. Ed highly doubted Hohenheim didn’t visit at least Creta. Perhaps he went under a different name or didn’t do anything worthwhile there. Alphonse was able to find some stories of their father during his stay at Xing, but it was given many Xingese already heard of “The Sage of the West”. Ed never went to Aerugo before, so it might be a chance Hohenheim was relatively well known there if he stayed at that country for a while; Norman did say his wife’s father had looked onto famous sites related to alchemy. 

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Ms. Hughes said, interrupting his thoughts. “Perhaps you’ll also find out a thing or two on how alchemy works in Aerugo.”

“That’s true.” Ed chuckled, knowing Ms. Hughes was right on that.

When everyone turned silent, the first set of fireworks suddenly exploded. Ed grinned and watched as various colors showered the sky—even as an adult he loved this. He glanced around to see all three children beaming.

“Yay, fireworks!” Jane cheered while Henry and Esther gazed on in amazement. 

More fireworks burst out, growing louder with each blast. As he continued watching the display, Ed got excited over going to learn about Hohenheim’s research at Aerugo. This was an opportunity he didn’t want to miss. 

+++

Having some time to kill before their lunch with the Cineros, the family went to a few different shops downtown. Ed had handed his children some money so they could buy whatever they want. They first stepped inside a bookshop and Henry and Esther didn't hesitate to buy lots of adventure novels and alchemy books. Next everyone went to a toy store, all three children grabbing one toy each to take home. After that, they all stopped at a bakery to rest. Ed and Winry helped themselves to coffee while their children ate chocolate cookies as their snack. 

"How long until we have to visit Mrs. Cinero?" Ed asked Winry. He watched as she sipped her coffee first before responding.

"A little over an hour. We can stay here a bit more before heading back to the hotel and leave our stuff there."

Ed nodded in agreement, drinking some of his coffee. It wouldn't be a good idea to bring the books and toys with them to lunch. The bakery was a short walking distance from the hotel and for certain they would use the elevator to go their room. They should still make time for a taxi as he wasn't sure how far the house was.

"Do we have enough money for the cab?" he asked.

"I'm sure we do." Winry grabbed her bag to check inside. Immediately after, she smiled. "Yup!"

The both of them fell in a short silence, Ed enjoying the break from their busy morning. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Esther reading her book. She already finished her cookie, only the tiny crumbs on the napkin. 

"What are you reading here, sweetie?" he asked. 

Looking up at her father, Esther beamed. "It's about a prince who traveled across another country to find a treasure in order to win the throne."

Ed gave his daughter a soft smile. "Sounds a lot like the Emperor of Xing. You remember him, right?"

Esther nodded. "Of course! He's funny and lets us eat yummy food."

For a moment Ed wondered how his friend was doing at Xing. It had been a while since they communicated with one another. The last time they spoke Ling said was extremely busy but was happy to be Xing's leader. He knew for sure Ling and Mustang were still in their trade agreement they made several years ago, which was a great thing. 

It was another ten minutes until they left the bakery and headed to the hotel. Once they arrived, the family went to the room to leave the things they bought inside before going back downstairs. They soon left the building and quickly found a cab parked by the curb. Like the night they made it to South City, Ed sat in the front and Winry in the back with their children. Their driver was the same one everyone met before. Winry told him the address before he took off. 

South City wasn't that busy in the afternoon as much as Central City, but there were still some life during this time. Ed saw through his window several people going to the different shops and restaurants inside. The cab drove passed one park filled with children playing and their parents keeping a close eye on them.

"Did you and your family go to the carnival yet?" the driver asked Ed a short while later. 

"Yeah! It was fun," he said, smiling a little.

"We got to see the fireworks!" Henry said in great delight. 

The driver chuckled. "I went to the carnival with my cousin and she loved it, too."

"Did you get to see _The Amazing Amestrian Alchemist Show_?" Esther asked the driver. 

"I saw that, too. Have to say, am very impressed with all the alchemists that performed."

The rest of the drive Jane described almost nonstop about her favorite things in the carnival, often making sound effects and using her hands dramatically. It took several minutes to reach their destination. Ed looked out the window to see in front of him a half-timbered house with highly decorated architecture. There was a cobblestone pavement that led to the building. 

Everyone climbed out and headed toward the house, the driver pulling away and back into the streets. When they reached the door, Winry knocked a few times and took two steps back. 

While they waited, Ed felt a knot tightened inside his stomach. Was he really that worried over what he was about to find out concerning Hohenheim? If his stay at Aerugo were anything like in Xing, then it shouldn't be anything bad. He got distracted from his thoughts when the doors were opened and Daria greeting him and his family with a wide smile.

"I'm so glad to see all of you here. Come in, come in!" she said as she gestured her hand forward. Ed noticed she used her automail one.

Everyone entered the house, he and Jane following behind Daria and the rest of the family; he held his youngest daughter's hand as the pair walked together. Inside was significantly cooler, but comfortable compared to the warm weather outside today. They passed the living room, Ed taking a quick glimpse to see some furniture and a fireplace not used yet. Eventually they reached the dining room where a round table was settled. The plates and napkins had been already set up. Smelling something good, he assumed the Cineros were baking pizza most likely— his kids would love that for sure.

"My husband is in the kitchen getting everything ready. All of you can sit down and relax." 

After she went inside the kitchen, the family immediately gathered around the table and sat down. Ed thought back to Daria’s prosthetic arm; he was used to seeing a lot of people with automail parts, especially living at Rush Valley for some time now. For some reason, though, it felt strange seeing her with one. 

"You haven't seen Daria since you apprenticed Mr. Garfiel?" he asked Winry in a whisper. She nodded.

"We talked two, maybe three times before I became a certified automail mechanic. It was mostly about her travels and family." A smile graced around Winry's lips. "She mentioned how proud she was of my accomplishments at such a young age, but I get that all the time."

"All right, pizza is ready!" Norman said when he stepped out of the kitchen, holding a large dish of pizza. Behind him, his wife held onto a tray of glasses of lemonade. 

"Oh boy, pizza!" Henry said, both hands on the table as he slightly raised himself up.

Daria handed everyone their drinks while her husband set the pizza down on the table. Ed was the first one to take a slice and taste it, his family joining in after. He nodded and let out satisfied groan. 

"Hey, this is fantastic pizza!"

"It is!" Winry said with a pleased look on her face. The children too had similar expressions as they were eating.

Norman grinned. "Thank you!"

Ed took another bite of his pizza and looked at Daria. "You mentioned our fathers had traveled together in Aerugo many years ago?"

"Ah yes, that. When my father first spoke of him, I was surprised he met someone that lived several generations. I take it you already knew the story of Xerxes and the real reason for its demise, correct?"

So she knew about the Philosopher’s Stone. Before responding, he took a quick glimpse to see his children enjoying their pizza. A few months ago he thought it was appropriate to let them know about their heritage but not how their grandfather got eternal life. He wouldn’t tell them that until the children were much older and better alchemists. 

"Yes. Hohenheim had told me about it many years ago." Back on the eve of the Promised Day, Ed was stunned when he revealed to be the Philosopher’s Stone. He wasn't going to mention to Daria that Hohenheim released them to save Amestris, though, as only a few knew that.

Daria drank some of her lemonade and continued. "My father loved to study on the Xerxes ruins and visited there a couple times, so he was enthusiastic bumping into him. He found out Hohenheim was staying in Aerugo so he could learn more about how alchemy worked in that country." 

"How did your father convince Ed's father to join him?" Winry asked.

"As I mentioned, he liked to go to ruins related to alchemy, so he proposed the both of them travel together and Hohenheim agreed to it."

As he was finishing the last piece of his pizza, Ed pondered over what she said so far. It seemed Hohenheim thought there was no harm letting her father know that he was immortal. Most likely he told a few others that, too. 

"What kind of ruins was it?" Henry asked.

"It was an abandoned castle that used to belong to a powerful Aerugian family, the Gatti House, in the eighteenth century. Not only that, one of its members, Ettero was an alchemist."

That piqued Ed's interest. "An Aerugian alchemist, huh. No wonder they went to check it out."

"Ettero had some artifacts and unpublished alchemy notes," Norman said, "and hid them somewhere before his family left the castle." 

Confused, Ed raised an eyebrow. "How were they able to come up with that conclusion?" 

"Your father found and solved a written code hidden in the ruins that gave a hint on the location of the notes. I assume Ettero wrote that incase he wanted to get those notes back at a later time."

Since Ettero was an alchemist, it must be an alchemic code. Hohenheim should be able to solve it easily then, or at least that was what Ed assumed. 

"I take it they were able to find the notes fairly quickly."

An uncertain look crossed the professor’s features. "That I'm unsure of. You see, he left them at the university he taught at, the one I'm teaching now. I was able to get his notes a few months ago, but realized some of the pages went missing. It could be one of his students ran off and never returned them. I can show you what I have of my father's notes in a few minutes."

It was a short while before everyone finished eating. The children had gotten sauce all over their faces, so Ed and Winry needed to clean them up. After that, the Cineros led them to the living room. The sofa was able to fit the whole family, Jane sitting on Winry's lap. They waited a minute until Daria came back with an old journal book.

"This is his journal that has your father mentioned a few times." She handed the book to Ed, who carefully opened it.

The journal's pages were crisped and yellowed, but the handwriting was still clear for the most part. Ed skimmed through the notes and did see Hohenheim's name popped up on several occasions. He then went to the end of the journal and found the last pages being torn. Winry leaned closer to have a look herself.

"Earlier you mentioned thinking a student had gotten hold of your father's notes," Ed said, looking at Daria.

"Yes, I did."

"If that's the case, then the alchemy notes would have been found long ago."

"Maybe, but these kind of trips can be dangerous, especially Aerugo's mountains. I still think there's a chance I can get Ettero's notes."

A small smile slipped onto Norman's lips. "Even with an automail arm, my wife's a brave one." 

Both he and Winry let out stunned gasps. Ed wasn't entirely sure if it was wise of her to do that alone.

"You're going to travel to Aerugo by yourself?" Winry asked.

"I plan to go to the country's capital, Padrid City, as that's where some alchemists reside and get their help. However..." She stopped to stare straight into Ed's eyes. "Perhaps you can help me."

The offering there was certainly unexpected. Frowning, Ed still tried to figure out how he felt about this. 

"I'm not sure if I'm the right person for this. I don't know much about Aerugo save for its political happenings. Also, I can't do alchemy anymore."

She smiled. "I wouldn't worry too much about those things. Your alchemy knowledge could be very useful. If you're fine with it then we can leave tomorrow." 

Tomorrow seemed awfully quick to make a trip to Aerugo, but then again it looked like she had plan this for months already. It was still unfortunate, though, that he was rushed to make a decision. If he decided to go, Ed wasn't sure how long he would be away from his family. Thinking that made his heart squeezed. He turned to look at Winry and the kids. 

"Are you all okay if I'm away for a while?"

Henry was the first to respond. "If you're going, I'm going too!"

"I want to join, also!" Esther said.

"Family adventure! Family adventure!" Jane said while bouncing on Winry's lap.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Winry said to her children. "This trip's dangerous." Ed knew she was right this wasn't entirely safe for the children. 

"Esther and I can use our alchemy to help Dad!" 

Stroking his chin, Ed took a moment to consider his son’s words. He could travel without alchemy just fine, but having his children around could make things much easier. If he decided to take them, then they needed to be watched at all times. 

“Their alchemy could be useful in certain situations…”

"Some hiking will be involved," Daria said. "We’ll need to take extra precautions when we’re up at the mountains." 

Winry seemed to ponder what he and her former client said. "If Ed and the kids want to go, then I'll go too."

Ed's eyes widen as he was surprised to hear her said that. "How about your shop?"

"I don't like having my shop unattended for a long period of time, but I know what kind of trouble you can get into on your own, Ed, and having two kids with you is going to mean even more trouble, so I’m going too.”

Not only his family was fine with him going to Aerugo but they wanted to join in also. At least they would be together, which was great really. Ed looked back at Daria and grinned. 

"You can count all of us in." 

All three of his children cheered after he said that. Meanwhile, Winry only smiled. 

"That's wonderful. I want you all to visit here again eight in the morning so that we leave to the train station together."

"We bought several things during our stay here,” Winry said to Norman. “Is it all right if we leave them here?"

"It won't be a problem at all, Winry," he said.

It was official, this would be a family adventure. There was some worry over something wrong might happen. However, Ed believed it would be a fun experience for everyone and a chance for his children to learn another part of the world. From his experience traveling, it had its benefits.


	4. Chapter 4

This had been the first time Joseph returned to East City since he left to study automail, and he was glad Winry and her husband recommended he go back home.

Two nights ago his family gave him a warm welcome the minute he stepped inside the house. His parents gave him a tight embrace while his younger brother, Vincent, sneaked up from behind, scaring him. They conversed over breakfast, Joseph telling everyone how great it was to be taught by Winry and how much care she took over her clients' automail. He also mentioned the kids were fun to be with and that he got along well with Mr. Elric. His father said it was great he was satisfied with his stay at Rush Valley, which meant a lot to Joseph. Throughout the rest of dinner, Joseph thought how much he missed being together with everyone like this.

The next morning he made sure to call Winry and let her know he made it safe. The two talked a brief moment before she needed to leave with her family to the carnival. Shortly after, he went with his family on a walk downtown, stopping at a small restaurant for lunch, and relaxing at the park. They stayed outside most of the afternoon, not returning home until sunset. 

That night after dinner, they listened to a radio drama, - a mystery story, - together. The whole family enjoyed doing that almost every week. 

"And so another case was solved by the great detective Basil Ryder and his assistant Joan Milson. What other mysteries will they get themselves into next? Tune in again, same time, next week, to Radio Capital for another episode of Mystery Hour."

"That was a great episode," Father said after the program was finished. 

"It is," Joseph said. "I didn't see that twist coming."

"Does Winry and her family listen to radio dramas, too?" his mom asked.

"They do and I often join in. Esther enjoys them the most."

The whole living room grew quiet as classical music played in the background. Joseph swept his gaze at his parents and it seemed they were deep in thought. He wondered if there was something important they wanted to tell him.

"You know, Joseph," Mom said, breaking the silence, "your father and I have been thinking. Would you mind if we visit you at Rush Valley something in the near future?"

Joseph's breath got caught in his throat. He didn't expect his parents to ask that, especially since not many visitors go to Rush Valley unless they either needed or were interested in automail. Besides that, it was a long train ride from East City to Rush Valley and wasn't sure if they wanted to go through the trouble. He was sure Winry's family would enjoy 

"No, not at all! In fact, it would be great if you guys do."

"How about me?" Vincent asked, sounding upset. 

Mom chuckled. "Of course you can come too, honey."

Cheering, Vincent raised his arms up. Joseph laughed as he always like it when his sibling was happy. All of a sudden, the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Father said as he rose from the sofa he sat on. He went to the desk, grabbed the phone, and picked up the receiver. "Hello? Winry! Great to hear from you!” His father stopped to listen to her and then he turned to him. "Winry wants to talk to you." 

He nodded, not surprised she wanted to speak to him. He rose from the couch and moved to where his father was. After he took the phone from him, Joseph had the receiver next to his ear. 

“Did you guys have a great time?”

“We did, thanks for asking! The children got to see a show featuring alchemists and then all of us saw fireworks.”

“That sounds great! Anything else?”

Winry began talking about how she met a former client, Daria Cinero, and how her father knew Ed’s long ago. She then explained Daria wanting Ed’s help for a trip she planned to take. One thing led to another the whole family agreed to go on this adventure. 

“Wait, let me get this straight. Daria and Ed’s fathers got involved in searching for an alchemist’s notes, but the travel notes had gone missing. And all of you decided to go on an adventure in Aerugo last minute to help Daria out.”

“That’s right.” 

“You know how long until you’ll come back?”

“We’re not sure. Perhaps a week at least.”

Joseph didn’t like the sound of that. “I hope the shop won’t be closed for too long.”

“Me too. However, at least you get to spend more time with your family.”

Frowning, he said, “I don’t know if that’s right as there might be clients waiting.”

“You’re very dedicated to our customers and deserve to relax once in a while, so don’t worry.”

She had said that one time already, before he left Rush Valley. Joseph made sure the automail were fixed to perfection so the clients would be very satisfied, like how they praised Winry’s work. Because of that, sometimes he lost sleep and skipped meals. He began to understand why she insisted he take this opportunity to rest more.

“If that’s what you think, then all right.”

“When all of us make it back to Amestris I’ll let you know.”

“That’s fine. Have a safe trip, and good night.”

“Same here.”

After Winry hung up first, Joseph had put the phone done. He turned to see his parents and brother watching him in concern. 

“You mention something about an adventure?” Mother asked.

“Winry and her family will be helping a friend out and going to Aerugo with her. Something about finding an alchemist’s notes.”

“That sounds neat!” his brother said.

“It’s not!” he countered instantly, more dramatic than he intended. “They probably will have to go through caves and mountains and forests.”

Father offered Joseph a small smile. “Well I’m sure everyone will be fine.”

He sighed to calm himself. Joseph wanted to believe that too but had a feeling this adventure of theirs wasn’t going to be easy.

+++

The next morning Winry and the family took a cab to go to the Cineros' house so that the children could leave their books and toys there. Daria let them leave their belongings in the living room.

"I'm going to drive Daria to the train station," Norman said, "so we'll be following your guys' cab."

"That's fine by us," Ed said.

"Mom, can Henry and I bring some books with us to read during the train ride?" Esther asked, holding a book Winry assumed the one she wanted to take with her.

"It's fine by me. But only a few." She was sure the two would finish reading before they made it to Padrid City, but she didn't want them to carry all of their books during the trip.

A short while later everyone made it to the train station. Today there were several people there, most of them waiting for their train to arrive. Winry saw one train with some people boarding.

“This is exciting!” Esther said as she jumped up and down; behind her, Henry and Jane were skipping around also. The children were very thrilled about this trip as much as the carnival, perhaps a little more. 

“Sorry about that,” Ed said to Daria and Norman. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"That’s all right,” Norman said and chuckled. “It’s great that the kids can’t wait to visit Aerugo.” 

"The train from South City to Padrid City, Aerugo will leave in five minutes!" the conductor suddenly yelled out. 

"That’s our train!” Henry said in hurried tone and pointed to their train nearby. 

"All of you have a safe trip," Norman said, smiling at everyone.

"We will, dear." Daria offered her husband a tight embrace. Everyone else then said their goodbyes to him before they climbed onto the train with the professor.

As the train started to move, they all went inside their compartment. Winry sat next to Daria on one side while Ed and the children sat across from them.

"How long is from here to Padrid City?" Ed asked.

"A little over one day, give or take. After that, there’s a town close by all of us can go to by bus and then the castle is around a two hour hike. The town has donkeys we can borrow for the children. “

“Over one day? That’s too long!” Henry complained, making a face.

“Now, Henry,” Winry said in a stern voice. She understood her son’s eagerness, but she wanted him to be patient. 

Daria didn’t seem to be bothered by that. “I think all of you will love Aerugo. There are lots of forests and lakes. The mountains are very beautiful, too."

"Will we see lotsa animals?" Jane asked, who was on Ed's lap.

"I'm sure we will."

Jane cheered, thrilled to hear that. Esther and Henry also responded with a collective "all right!" When Winry fixed her gazed at Ed, he gave her a shrug and an awkward smile. Letting out a sigh, she didn’t look forward to the kids bothering Daria throughout the ride.

+++

The next day the train arrived in Padrid City late afternoon. After everyone climbed out of the train station and grabbed their remaining luggage, Daria led the family to the train station’s exit.

Winry gasped in amazement the instant she stepped outside, drinking in the scenery. The old style architecture buildings had been well preserved and it gave her the feeling of stepping back in time. Many people bustled in and out of the shops and she wondered if they would have time to visit one of them. A few cars, in similar models as the ones in Amestris, drove past them. She turned around to catch sight of Ed and the children looking awed as well. 

"Padrid City is huge!" Henry said.

"It's the largest city in Aerugo," Daria said, "so there's lots to do and see. Also this is where the current royal family resides."

“The king and queen live here?” That caught Esther’s attention. “Can we meet them?” she asked eagerly. 

Daria shook her head. “I’m afraid anyone inside the castle won’t allow us that unless it’s very important.” She stopped a moment, leaving Winry to think Daria had something on her mind. “It’ll be dark if we head to the abandoned castle now, so it’s best to go early tomorrow instead. After we find the closest hotel, I can show you guys around the history museum."

"Cool, a museum!" Henry said, beaming.

Around a few minutes after, the group found a hotel called the Padrid Inn. They went to the reception area to check if there were any rooms available and fortunately the clerk said there are two still open at the fourth floor. After the group took the elevator, Winry and her family went to their room to leave their stuff behind while Daria headed to hers. A while later, the family met up with her at the hall before they all left the hotel together.

The museum was around a half hour walk from the hotel. Everyone stopped to look at the brick building in front of them. Like the other buildings, this one seemed at least a few decades old. Some patrons stepped outside of the museum, looking satisfied.

"Why there's a two headed falcon on the flag?" Esther asked. Winry looked up at where her daughter pointed at and indeed there was a flag of a two headed falcon on a red background. She wondered the same thing.

"That's the Aerugian flag. It symbolizes strength and keenness." Daria then walked up the steps to the museum, everyone following suit right after.

Inside was more stunning than Winry expected. The late afternoon sunlight spilled through the glass ceiling on the roof, bathing the entrance hall with a warm glow. She glanced down a second to see the marbled floor in a decorated design. At the center there was a statue of a man in armor, and Winry was not sure who it was.

"That's Guy of Gully, one of Aerugo's kings," Daria said to everyone, pointing at the statue. "He fought one of the wars several centuries ago and moved his living residence here."

"But we're not here for him, though," Ed said and it wasn't a question.

Daria shook her head and said, "What I want to show you is on the second floor." 

The several steps to the second floor were a bit of a walk, but Winry didn't mind. Once they ascended them, Daria led them to a room where several paintings and artifacts spread out. Three other people were inside looking around.

"These are paintings and galleries of well-known Aerugian scientists during seventeenth and eighteenth century," she said in a low voice. She took a few more steps until she found a specific painting. "That's Ettero Gatti."

Winry approached to the painting and gazed at it for a while. He was dressed in a men's ruffle shirt, only the top part of his trousers showing. His dark hair was in a messy style and he had the same eye color as her. He seemed to be in his mid to late thirties the time of the painting. Winry glanced at Ed, who looked to be fairly interested in him, too. 

"As I mentioned a couple days ago, he came from the Gatti House. He was the eldest son in the family who published some of his alchemy studies. It's most likely, though, that there are several more notes that went unpublished, like the ones we're going to find now. "

Ed gave a single nod. "Anything else you know about this Ettero guy?" 

"He was a member of the Academy of the Falcon, an elite group of alchemists that meet often to discuss alchemy and other sciences. They named it after Aerugo's flag." 

"I know those type of academies," Ed said. "Amestris has one or two of those still present."

While listening to their conversation, Winry remembered Daria talked about Ettero fleeing from his castle. She grew curious over the reason for that.

"You also said that Ettero and his family abandoned their castle. Why is that?"

"In short, it was due to political unrest facing them. Because of that, they fled out of the country. The academy slowly dissolved shortly after."

Politics was never interesting to Winry, so she was glad she went straight to the point and was satisfied with her response. Still, such a shame they had to run away like that. She remembered several years ago on the eve of the Promised Day Ed wanted her to leave the country and yelled at him for suggesting that. 

Winry realized the children were quiet since they entered the room. She turned to see Ed holding Jane while Esther and Henry weren't with them. Her heart sunk. 

"Ed, did you see where Henry and Esther went?" 

Ed shot her an arched eyebrow before he himself looked back and forth. Seconds later, he sighed. "They probably left while all of us were talking." 

"Mom, Dad, over here!" 

Hearing Henry's loud voice, Winry didn't hesitate to go find where he and Esther were at. She and the others moved further into the room until they were able to find Henry and Esther gazing at one of the artifacts. In display there were some pages of Ettero’s notes. Winry knew these particular notes would be complex for her to understand, so she looked over her shoulder to watch Ed observing them very thoroughly. 

"Those are some of Ettero's alchemy notes," Daria said. "His first language is Aerugian, so he wrote most of his notes in that language. He knows a fair bit of Amestrian though as he traveled Amestris a short while. He also collaborated with two other members in the academy who were from that country."

"Do you know where are the academy notes, if there's any at all?" Ed asked. Winry was certain her husband was very interested in looking at those.

"They're probably archived at the villa, now a historic site, the group usually had their meetings at. It’s in Alley City, though.

"Oh," Ed said in a disappointed voice. 

"I’m bored," Jane said as her shoulders slumped. She then yawned. "I wanna see the castle now." 

Daria chuckled. "As I said earlier, that’ll have to wait until tomorrow." 

"Anything else you want to show us in here?" Winry asked. She had a feeling this little tour was coming to an end.

"Not really. We can walk around Padrid City a little bit and then go to a restaurant for dinner."

"That's fine with me," she said and started walking. "I guess we should head out--"

Winry wasn't able to finish speaking when she suddenly bumped onto someone and fell on the floor. Immediately everyone rushed to her.

"Are you all right, Mom?" Esther asked. Everyone else had similar concerned expressions.

Getting to her feet, Winry felt some slight pain on her side and had her hand rubbed gently there to ease the sore. Looking down, she gave her daughter a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Esther, I'm fine." 

"Oh, I'm so sorry Miss," the lady that bumped into Winry earlier said. She looked to be in her forties. "I didn't look where I was going."

"It's all right. I wasn't paying attention, either."

The other woman made a soft laugh. "We're both at fault, I guess. I'm Anna," she said and stretched her hand for Winry to shake.

"Winry." She accepted the handshake. "My family and a friend of mine are visiting Aerugo for a brief moment. I take it you're from Amestris also?" 

Anna nodded. "Yes. Small world, huh?"

A small smirk tugged at Ed's lips. "I traveled around a while back and it's much bigger than I previously thought."

"I also done a lot of traveling myself," Anna said, looking amused, "as I'm an archaeologist."

"What a coincidence as I'm an archaeologist, too!" Daria said.

Anna regarded Daria briefly. She grinned. "Oh, you must be Daria Cinero! I read some of your articles from different archaeology journals. Always love your work."

"Oh, thank you." Daria offered her an appreciated smile. "Curious, though. Which city you live in if you don't mind us asking?" 

"North City. I tend to have my excavations at Creta and Drachma."

"That sounds neat," Ed said and smiled. "Drachma sounds harsh, though."

"It is, but I usually go there during spring and summer."

"Are you here on vacation as well?" Esther asked, titling her head.

"Sort of. I'm more here on personal business. I want to go visit the castle that used to belong to the famous Gatti family." 

"Hey, we're going to that castle too!" Henry said while beaming.

Anna's eyes lit up in surprise. She smiled immediately after. "My, I didn't expect that. If I may ask, what’s your reason for going there?

“We’re trying to find out more about Ettero Gatti’s secret notes,” Daria said. “How much you know about those?”

“There were talks that those notes have something valuable and that he wrote them in code, like any alchemist would.”

Stealing a glimpse of Ed, Winry saw him narrowing his eyes. Clearly he was very suspicious of her. 

“Like treasure?” Esther asked, a hopeful look on her face.

“You can say that.” Looking back at Daria, she said to her, “If you want, we can work out the details downstairs.” 

Daria took a moment to ponder the offer. “Sure, as long as Ed joins us, too,” she said and waited for his answer.

“I guess that’s fine,” he said. Winry caught him glimpsing at Anna and could tell he was still skeptical of her.

After smiling at Ed, Daria turned her attention to Winry. “Winry, there’s a gift shop not far from this room that you and the kids can look around a little while.”

“Thanks for letting us know,” she said. 

“I see nothing wrong with that,” Anna said. “Ed, Daria, follow me downstairs.” 

All three headed out of the room, leaving Winry alone with the kids. The children wanted her to take them to the gift shop immediately, so they too left the room. She hoped whatever conversation they were going to have would be a good one and that Ed wouldn’t make a fool of himself. 

 

+++

Ed became wary when Anna said she was going to the castle for personal business. Now he thought about it, her bumping into Winry seemed highly suspicious also. The notes are highly likely powerful stuff, leading him to believe she had some shady motive going on. He agreed to join the ladies in discussing over the specifics to see if Anna would explain more about her purpose in Aerugo.

After going down the stairs, they reached the ground floor and stopped close to the statue of Guy of Gully, Aerugo’s former king that Daria had mentioned earlier. Ed immediately seized this opportunity to speak first.

“Let’s cut to the chase. Why are _you_ looking for the documents?”

Anna didn’t seem threatened by that statement. “I read quite a bit about them on several archeological journals and, like Daria, I want to find out more about them for research purposes.” 

That didn’t ease Ed’s skepticism one bit. He expected her to say something to the effect of that. 

“You mentioned there had been rumors that Ettero Gatti wrote them in code,” Daria said. “That surprised me as not many archeologists are aware of that fact about alchemists. What else you know?”

“I’ve been studying the construction of the castle as being the first one completed using alchemy as a construction method. I’m quite familiar with the layout, so I can help you two navigate the building.”

Daria’s eyes flew wide. “Help us navigate? You are suggesting…”

“That we go together?” Anna shot her a smirk. “Then yes.” 

Staring at her, Ed wondered if she already wanted to work with Daria or just thought of it now. Even if she was very knowledgeable with the castle’s layout, he felt uncomfortable with her joining them.

“You’re pretty quick in suggesting that,” Ed said. He was sure he didn’t hide his apprehension very well. 

“Perhaps, but I’m serious about helping you guys.” Anna paused to draw in a deep breath. “I said earlier I love your work, Daria. Since we’re looking for the same thing, it would an honor to be working with you.”

“Oh, I’m flattered,” she said, taken aback by that comment. “I believe that shouldn’t be a problem. All right, you can join us.”

Anna let out a satisfied smile. “Wonderful. When and where should we meet?" 

"We'll be taking the bus to Therosta Town early in the morning if that's fine by you." 

"I plan to leave around that time myself, so I'll meet you all at the bus stop." 

"It's settled, then!" 

The two archaeologist shook hands, and then Anna waved everyone goodbye. Ed watched her back until she exited outside. 

"Are you sure about bringing a stranger with us?" he asked Daria. She spun around to see him arched an eyebrow at her. 

"It’ll be more convenient if she joins us. Her knowledge of the castle could be useful.” 

Ed still didn't look convinced. "I find it unusual Anna suddenly wants to team up with you. I’m not sure she should be trusted with the code.”

"I can’t blame you on that. It does seem, though, she just wants to research them.”

Realizing she was dead set on having Anna with them, Ed decided not to push her over in reconsidering her decision. He got distracted when he heard the sound of children voices nearby and twisted around to see Winry and the kids approaching them. All three children were carrying bags with them.

“So how was the gift shop?” Ed asked them when they reached him and Daria.

“It was great!” Henry said, beaming. “I got some chalk and pens.”

“I bought a journal,” Esther said.

“Teddy bear!” Jane said.

Winry chuckled after they finished saying their gifts. She then faced Ed and Daria. “Did the discussion with Anna go well?”

“It did,” Daria said, smiling. “She’s going to be joining us on our trip to the castle tomorrow.”

“Really? It makes sense since she’s heading there herself.”

“Anna knows the layout of the castle, so she can help us travel through the building.”

“Huh. I guess we’re lucky stumbling into her, then.” Looking straight at Ed, she asked him, “Are you okay with that?”

“To be honest I think we should keep an eye on her.” 

“Rest assured if she does something harmful that I won’t let her tag along anymore,” Daria said.

Ed believed there was truth in her words, but afraid she wouldn’t catch on Anna’s misbehavior until it was too late –he wasn’t sure how to prevent that from happening. Nonetheless, tomorrow he would watch Anna closely to see if she stepped out of bounds.


	5. Chapter 5

The group retired back to the hotel later in the evening and to return their rooms. Ed and Henry were reading while Winry and the girls listened to the radio. 

Ed had been reading Ermes's journal the past hour and thought it was interesting how his and Hohenheim's friendship developed. Hohenheim indeed mentioned to him about being the Philosopher's Stone and the story behind Xerxes's demise. They traveled many fascinating sites together, Ed's father often using his alchemy to clear some paths. He stopped flipping through the pages when Winry approached him, leaning in to have a closer look. 

"Are you reading Daria's father's journal?" she asked and blinked. 

"I asked if I could borrow the journal for tonight and she said it's all right. From the sounds of it, he and Hohenheim are good friends."

"I'm sure your father had a lot of friends throughout the years."

Ed offered Winry a sad smile. He knew it was rough on Hohenheim living a long life while his friends passed away. At least he didn't have to go through that cycle once more. His eyes back at the journal, Ed skimmed over the part where Ermes talked to Hohenheim about the Academy of the Falcon.

"Daria's father knows quite a bit about the academy, too." He reflected back to Daria's lecture on Ettero's involvement in that elite group. He was shocked to hear how Ettero had to run out of the country and the academy dissolving soon after. "I wonder if we'll find anything more about that group tomorrow."

“We might.” She then frowned and Ed could tell something bothered her. “Will you be okay with Anna around? You said we should be careful with her.”

Ed felt his throat tightened. He made it too obvious he wasn’t in favor of Anna coming with them to the castle. Despite that, he could keep his emotions in check for tomorrow and not do anything to embarrass himself. 

“I still think that, but there’s no need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. “

“If you say so,” Winry said after regarding him a moment. She offered Ed a quick kiss on the forehead and then moved away to join back with Jane and Esther.

Tomorrow's trip Ed was looking forward to more and more. There should be several things they could find there. He still wasn't all that positive about bringing in Anna with them as it seemed suspicious she wanted to go to the castle also. However, it was most likely a coincidence and that he was thinking too much over this. 

 

Early next morning everyone ate breakfast together before leaving the hotel. Ed and his family followed Daria as she led them to where the buses were at. He glanced around, seeing the streets already filled with people and cars in the morning. A short while later they found two double decker buses next to a curb. Ed only saw those kind of buses running at Central. 

"These are the buses that'll take us to Therosta Town?" Ed asked. 

Daria nodded. "Yes. Therosta Town doesn't have a train station, so anyone that wants to travel there usually goes on a bus. It takes usually around half an hour.”

"I've never been on a bus before!" Jane said as she looked at the buses in amazement. Her siblings too couldn't stop staring at it. 

"Oh, hello!" a voice nearby suddenly called.

Ed turned around to see Anna approaching them. Once she reached to the group, Anna grinned at everyone.

"Glad you can make it!" Daria said, smiling. "We should hurry to one of the buses now."

The inside of the bus was almost crowded, but Ed and the others fitted in just fine. He sat down besides Winry and had Jane sat on his lap. The children settled on the back while Anna and Daria sat across from them. Another few minutes passed until the bus started and drove off. 

It wasn't until the bus left Padrid City that Ed looked out through the window to see the road stretching wide. The trees loomed high above like pillars and Ed was amazed how tall they were. 

"Will you guys be going back to Padrid City after this?" Anna asked, causing Ed to turn around.

"Most likely we will, yes," Daria said. "We should grab some lunch to bring with us first before leaving."

"I take it this isn't your first time at Aerugo." 

"This is my home country, actually. I decided to move to Amestris to study archaeology, though. My husband was born in Aerugo, too."

"I bet living at South City makes frequent trips to Aerugo very easy," Winry said. That made Daria chuckle. 

"It is, but not as often as I would like due to my busy schedule."

The rest of the trip the children talked about what stuff they would find at the castle. Ed didn’t pay attention to their conversation, instead looking back at the window. He enjoyed looking at Areugo's simple but beautiful landscape. It had been a while since he experienced visiting a new country, the feeling of wanderlust starting to creep back in. When they got close to Therosta Town, he could see the mountain behind stretched far and wide. He understood now why Daria said it would be a hike. 

"Therosta Town’s up ahead!" the driver announced loudly to the passengers. 

As the bus drove through town, Ed paid close attention to its scenery. There weren't as many shops compared to Padrid City, but he still caught sight of people coming in and out of them. The bus drove pass several houses and other buildings, including a library and a school. The vehicle eventually stopped at a curb where there was an inn at a close distance and all the passengers climbed out. Outside, a slight cool breeze picked up. It was a good thing they’d thought to bring some jackets with them before leaving.

There was a shop nearby that everyone went to where they bought some sandwiches for lunch. After that, Daria led them to a small stable where the donkeys were kept at. Ed's nose wrinkled at the less than pleasant smell.

"Some of these donkeys are large!" Esther said as they looked at them.

"As I mentioned, some people borrowed them here to go to the mountains." Looking at both Ed and Winry, Daria said, "They can carry both Jane and Esther easily."

Ed heard a snort from behind and jerked his head to see Jane petting a donkey's forehead. She giggled.

"This one has soft fur!" When Jane ceased petting, the donkey shook his head.

"I think this one likes you," Winry said, kneeling down. The donkey let her stroke his forehead.

"Am I going to have to ride them, too?" Henry asked as he narrowed his eyes. Ed could tell his son didn't like the idea of riding one of them.

"You're old enough to hike on your own," he said. "Just stay close with me."

"All right!" Henry grinned, satisfied with the response. 

Daria managed to grab one donkey for the group to use before they started hiking up the mountain. Jane and Esther rode on the donkey together, Ed holding the rope. The three were behind everyone else.

Smiling, Ed was reminded of his travels at Creta and hiking one of the mountains there. He had to be extra careful because of his automail leg, but he managed to get through it fine. The fresh air and seeing the wildlife were always his favorite parts about hiking.

The air grew colder the further they hiked, but luckily Ed wore lighter automail fitted for mountain climates like this. He assumed Daria had on a similar model also, hence her not having any problems with it. 

"Are you doing fine with your auotmail leg?" Winry asked Ed an hour into the hike. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"I am, don't worry," he reassured her and his smile grew wider. 

"All right, just making sure." 

"So you're an automail mechanic, Winry?" Anna asked.

"I am!" she responded while offering her a proud smile. "I did Ed's automail leg when we were kids, actually." 

A smile tugged onto Anna's lips. "Ah, so you've been doing it for a while."

"Her grandmother did prosthetics also," Ed said. 

"That must be why." Anna chuckled. "My interest in archaeology came from my father, so I understand that well."

A short silence followed. Ed stared at Anna briefly, his skepticism of her returning. So far no one else was wary of her as him. He wanted to prove she had some motive going on, but wasn’t sure how.   
"That's the castle up ahead!" Daria suddenly said, sounding excited.

Ed looked up to where she pointed out and drew his gaze at the castle on top of the large mound. There was a curtain wall around it and the keep could be seen. Ahead of them were a stone bridge and a long trail leading to the castle. All his children gasped in astonishment, and Ed jerked his head to see them take their eyes off on the castle. 

They all continued hiking for a short while longer until they reached and passed through the gatehouse. They moved several steps further into the courtyard before halting. After Ed helped his daughters off the donkey, he and the others gazed at the stone castle in front of them. 

"Wow, that castle is huge!" Esther said, beaming. 

"Yes it is," Anna said. "You'll be even more amazed inside."

Slowly, everyone stepped inside the castle. The entrance hall was mostly empty and cold as Ed expected, though he imagined it to be much more furnished back in the day. He could spot the stairs at a close distance. 

“So all of the construction is from alchemy,” Ed said, grinning. He often heard and seen alchemists used their talents in architecture, but it still amazed him how stunning the end result was.

“Ettero and several alchemists had worked together to build this castle and it took over a month,” Anna said. “He wanted the structure to be similar to the older ones but with some newer touches.” 

“That is a great feat,” Winry said. She looked over her shoulder and her expression suddenly changed. “Henry, don’t touch that!” 

Ed swung around to see Henry staring at a suit of armor next to the wall, his finger almost touching it. He looked at his mother’s direction with startled eyes, lowered his arm down, and rushed back to join the group. 

"Which room should we look at first?" Daria asked.

"We should check out the sitting room, which is upstairs," Anna said and led everyone to the castle’s staircase.

The group climbed the many steps until they reached the upper floor. They passed by some rooms until Anna found the sitting room, opened the door, and took the group inside. There was some dusty furniture left behind like chairs and a chest. Dark red background with a coat of arms was painted on the walls over a stone fireplace. Sunlight from the windows flooded inside. 

“The sitting room is mainly used whenever Ettero and his family wanted to relax,” Anna said. “The clue should be here somewhere.” 

For a while everyone searched for anything written on the walls and so far they didn’t find anything. Ed thought an alchemist like Ettero wouldn’t leave the code wide in the open like that. An idea hit him.

“I think Ettero might cover his code through alchemy.”

“As a way to not any bypassers see it?” Winry asked, sounding intrigued. 

“Yes. Very clever if you ask me.”

“Oh, can I do it, can I do it?” Henry asked very eagerly, clasping his hands together. 

Smiling at his son, Ed kneeled down and touched his shoulder. “Did you bring the chalk you bought from the gift store with you?”

A large grin stretched across Henry’s face. He nodded and immediately took out a chalk from the pocket of his pants. “Yup!” he said before sprinting to one of the walls.

Ed and the rest watched as he began drawing up a transmutation circle. Once Henry finished it, he touched his palms to the array and a flash of blue light appeared. A few seconds passed before he let go of his hands and stepped back. Much to Ed’s disappointment, there wasn’t any writing there. 

“Maybe it could be around that fireplace,” Winry said and pointed there.

Henry headed toward the fireplace and drew another transmutation circle next to it. He placed his palms on the wall and once more blue light flickered. Ed waited and this time letters started to show up. 

_Give me silver for my troubles  
And I shall lead you to where bats slumber_

Muttering the words to himself, Ed instantly recognized it was a riddle over where Ettero had hidden his notes. He looked over his shoulder to see Daria already took out a journal and scribbling the code down. Everyone else continued to stare at it in slight bemusement. 

“Is this supposed to be a riddle?” Jane asked.

“It is,” Daria said, “yet a possible location isn’t coming to me yet.”

Ed had his attention back at the code. For certain there were some alchemic references behind it. The word “lead” caught his interest—if it was enunciated differently, then it would be the element lead. There was also the mention of silver there… Yes, of course! He had it figured out now.

“Ettero used the elements silver and lead in his code. Also the mention of bats is most likely at a cave.” He turned to Daria. “Are there a lot of caves in Aerugo?”

“Several of them,” she said. “Most weren’t discovered until after Ettero ran away, though. My best guess is he went to the closest one, Nork Cave.”

“How far is the cave?” Henry asked.

“It’s a few hours train ride from Padrid City to Alley City and the cave is next to the mountains there. It would take Ettero around a day if he went by horse.”

“You think we can catch a morning train tomorrow there?” Ed asked, turning to Daria. By the time they get back to Padrid City it would be close to nightfall. They could take an evening train, but after a day of bus rides and hiking he doubt anyone would be up for a train ride immediately. Even he would like a bit of rest very soon.

“We can do that, yes.”

Anna still stared at the riddle in great interest until she suggested, “It’s best if we cover the code so no one else sees it.”

Ed agreed that the code needed to be hidden away again. He made a sharp nod at Henry and his son quickly touched the wall, the transmutation circle he drew a few minutes ago still there. The letters slowly disappeared like burning paper, no trace of the code anymore. As a precaution, Henry dusted off the drawing with his hand.

“I’m hungry,” Jane said when tugging at Ed’s pants. He looked down to see his daughter placed her other hand on her stomach. 

“We haven’t eaten since we left Padrid City,” Winry said, a small smile forming around her lips.

Before Ed could respond, his stomach growled and he let out a sheepish laugh. “I guess we should have lunch first before we head back to town.”

Outside the castle everyone sat on the ground and ate their sandwiches. It was slightly warmer than in the morning, which Ed welcome very much. His sandwich was soft but tasted sweet, probably from the cheese. 

Unfortunate they weren’t able to find out more about the Academy of the Falcon, but Ed was fine with that. It was highly unlikely they would, anyways. The castle was still stunning to visit inside.

“How did you figure out immediately Ettero used lead and silver when he wrote that?” Anna asked as she looked at him.

“Silver and lead were used in transmutations often, so it was easy for me to catch that.” He shrugged. Ed was certain Hoheinheim solved it very fast also. 

“Ed can be a show off sometimes,” Winry said in a teasing manner. He snorted, already knew she didn’t mean any harm in that. 

“I see. I’m also amazed at your son when he made the code appeared with his alchemy.”

“It was easy!” Henry said, flashing Anna a haughty smile. 

“Will you be joining us at Alley City?” Esther asked before she ate more of her sandwich.

“Of course,” Anna said immediately and smiled at everyone.

“You’re more than welcome to come with us,” Daria said, returning the smile. 

Ed didn’t smile at hearing Anna would continue to stay. He supposed it was a good thing she wasn’t a threat during the exploration of the castle. No doubt her knowledge of the castle’s layout was very useful for the group, yet he couldn’t help but think it was all an act. Now that she would be tagging with them to Nork Cave, he needed to be much more precautious around her. 

At least today was a successful day overall. They were able to find the code thanks to Henry and cracked it, so they made some progress on their journey. After everyone finished their lunch, Ed helped his daughters onto the donkey and they began their long hike back down to Therosta Town.


	6. Chapter 6

As night fell upon Padrid City, Anna decided to go to a bar across from her hotel to relax. She sat outside, reading a book as she took some sips of her glass of a local drink made with a liqueur called Camponi. The red drink was bittersweet on her tongue, yet she liked it. 

She didn't expect to bump into Daria, nor the family that joined with her, at the museum yesterday. It was understandable the professor would search the notes also, her being Ermes Russo's daughter. Immediately she decided to join the group, able to flatter Daria that she wanted to work with her.

Today's trip was enjoyable for the most part. During the hike she could tell Winry's husband had doubts about her from his long stares. She assumed he wasn't comfortable having someone they only met coming along, so Anna wasn't offended by that. The code being hidden by alchemy made sense; it did impress her that Edward figured the meaning behind it right away. 

Anna separated from the group once they made it back to Padrid City, but she had promised to meet them at the train station tomorrow morning. She was glad they were fine with her staying around a while longer.

Realizing she stopped reading her book, Anna put it back in her bag and swallowed the last of her drink before she rose from her seat. Now should be a good time to go back inside. She passed by several people still outside and streetlamps that lit up brightly. 

It took her a few minutes to arrive at the hotel, and reach her room. Anna kicked her shoes off once she stepped inside and went to the table to pour herself a glass of water. While drinking, she gazed at the old archaeology magazines and stack of papers left behind while she was away. Anna set the glass down and moved the magazines away to grab the papers. A smirk graced her lips.

The pages were yellowed and the writing smudged in some places. Anna was familiar with the late archaeologist's work for a long time but was surprised to stumble upon some of his travel notes. Her father had these for a long time, leaving them to languish. No need for the rest of the journal as these last few pages was the most important in searching for Ettero's notes. 

She studied the pages that referenced Ermes's trip to the castle. It mentioned a man named Hohenheim who performed the same alchemy Winry's son had used earlier. The riddle was also written down in the notes, the words "silver" and "lead" being underlined. Anna then read some paragraphs concerning Alley City and Nork Cave to see if there was anything of particular interest. 

Tomorrow she would set off to those two places with everyone. Hopefully they would stay at a hotel overnight so that she didn't have to bring the notes with her. As long as Ed, Daria and everyone else didn't find them, she should be fine. 

+++

Ed was surprised when Daria had insisted everyone go to her room as she wanted to show a few things to them. He wasn't sure what those "things" would be, but that had him curious.

The whole family settled and waited on the bed while Daria rummaged through her luggage. Once she found the things she needed, she took a few steps forward until she was in front of Ed and handed him a photograph. Ed felt his throat tighten. 

The picture had Hohenheim and another man outside behind a small store. The both of them stood up straight and smiled. Between the two men was a young girl, looking to be about Esther's age, having a wide grin on her face. Ed had only seen two other photos of Hohenheim before –one with his own family and another with Granny—but never with other people. It felt strange to see another picture of Hohenheim years after his death. 

"That's our Grandpa!" Jane said cheerfully as she pointed to the photo.

"Is this you and your father?" Winry asked, leaning forward to take a closer look at the photo.

Daria nodded and her face softened. "This is a while after the expedition as the back says it has been taken in 1875."

Turning the back of the photograph, Ed indeed spotted the writing on the bottom corner. Resembool, 1875. He flipped it back and stared at the photograph once more, this time paying particular attention to the younger Daria. If she was with them when this picture was taken, then that meant--

"You actually met Hohenheim before," Ed said in a low voice as he met her eyes.

"I was eight when that happened, so I don't remember too much of that visit. Hohenheim was very nice to me and the two had a nice long chat together. That was the only time I met him." She paused to clear her throat. "I also have another photo of my father."

Daria handed Ed another photograph, this time of Ermes inside an office. He stood up in front of his desk, smiling in this picture also.

"This is his office at South City University?" Ed asked.

"It is. My father had written several articles and books for different publications. Here's one of them."

Daria gave Ed a booked called _Post-Medieval Objects in Aerugo_ , Ermes Russo's name printed in the front cover. He flipped through some of the pages to see the photographs of different artifacts discovered like pots, swords, and clothing. His family gathered around him, looking at the pictures also.

"There's a lot of these artifacts!" Henry said. 

"All of them are beautiful," Winry said.

Ed continued flipping through the pages until he stopped at a photograph of some old flasks with the caption "Academy of the Falcon's flasks" on the bottom. The section about the flasks explained those were used on several experiments conducted by the members in that society and how the study of alchemy had been widely practiced back then. There was nothing much else on that particular society. 

"Where are those flasks now?" Esther asked.

"They're at the academy's villa with the archived notes too."

"That makes sense." Finished reading, he closed the book and returned it to Daria. "Anything else you have for us?"

She shook her head. "That's all that I have to show you." 

"Thanks for showing us those pictures," Winry said, offering the professor an appreciative smile.

"It's my pleasure." Daria smiled back. She then faced Ed. "Oh, almost forgot to ask, Ed. What do you think of my father's journal?"

"I think it's a great read so far. Hoenheim and your father got along very well. You want me to give it back to you tomorrow morning before we leave?" The journal did write like an adventure story and it felt incomplete without the next part. Ed wasn’t sure if he would get the chance to read the ending. 

“That’s all right with me.”

"Thank you." Glancing at the clock on the wall, Ed realized that it was close to nine o' clock at night now. "I think we all should go back to our rooms now," he said to Winry and the children. 

After everyone climbed out of bed, they said goodnight to Daria and headed back to their room. 

Ed thought the stuff she showed them were interesting, especially the picture with Hohenheim. He still couldn't get over that Daria had met him so many years ago. Tomorrow he would hand her the journal back before the departure from Padrid City. 

+++

Winry enjoyed Anna's company overall. It meant a lot to her that she was interested in her being an automail mechanic. She thought it was neat what they had in common was being inspired by their family in the careers they're in now. Everyone else save for Ed liked her also, who still seemed to be suspicious of her. 

They all boarded the train to Alley City and shared a compartment together. She stole a glimpse of Anna, watching her gaze through the window as if she were daydreaming It was kind of amusing to Winry a new person was added each train ride. 

"So Anna, back at the hike you mentioned your father was an archaeologist also," Daria said several minutes into the train ride.

"He was for a while, yes,” she said, tearing her gaze off the window. “His specialty was Cretan archaeology. You probably heard the name Raoul Dabney, correct?" 

"I have. Some of his articles on Creta's ruins are wonderful." 

“I traveled to Creta several years ago to study alchemy there,” Ed said, joining in the conversation, “and visited a few of those ruins. They’re incredible to see in person.” 

"That's great to hear, both of you." Anna flashed Daria and Ed a pleased smile. Changing the subject, she then said, "I’ve enjoyed Aerugo a lot so far. Such a lovely country."

Winry hummed in agreement. She loved Padrid City a lot and was amazed at the castle they visited yesterday. "Me too." 

"I'm excited to check out the cave," Ed said, a big smile on his face. 

"This is my first time going to Nork Cave, so I'm looking forward to it also," Anna said, wearing a similar expression on her face. 

"I hate bats," Esther said and shuddered. "They're disgusting." 

Patting her daughter's shoulder, Winry said, "They won't hurt you, I promise." 

"Can we eat lunch first before we go?" Henry asked. He was right that it would be lunchtime by the time they reached the city.

"Yeah, will we?" Jane asked next.

Ed chuckled at the both of them. "I'm sure that's a given, Henry."

"Very likely all of us will be in the cave all day," Daria said, "so we'll be staying at Alley City overnight."

As the silence lingered on, Winry didn't like the sound of that. She had been away from Rush Valley over a week and missed home a lot. Also it bothered her the shop had been closed that long. She was certain Joseph worried about her still. Winry didn't regret taking this trip, but the sooner the family got through the rest of this adventure the better. 

+++

The train arrived at Alley City early afternoon. Ed along with everyone else left the station immediately to find someplace to sleep for the night. They then stopped at a small restaurant for lunch and stayed there for some time to eat. 

Just outside of Alley City was a large forest on a mountainside. They had to pass through a small section of it before they could reach the cave. Tall trees towered over them like pillars from a ruin, but some sunlight still flooded outside. The sound of birds could be heard from a far distance. The fresh air filled Ed's lungs. 

“Are we at the cave yet?” Jane suddenly asked, tightening her grip around Ed’s hand. He had let his daughter stay close to him. 

“Almost,” Daria said. “Just a few more minutes.”

They had been inside the forest almost half an hour by now, Ed guessed. Compared to the hike to the castle, this trail was slightly easier. His automail leg still worked fine and had been doing fine since the start of this trip—he would like it to keep it that way. It wouldn’t be much longer until they arrived at Nork Cave. 

“This cave was a popular hideout for alchemists, right?” Anna asked. “I remember reading that a while back.” 

“Yes. They would do all sorts of experiments there and left some writings on the walls. It’s likely Ettero and his colleagues from the academy sometimes met in that cave.”

Pondering what Daria said, Ed believed it to be the case, too. Ettero would hide his notes at a location he was familiar with. 

Everyone continued to move further within the forest until they at last reached close to the front of the cave. The entrance had a wide opening from top to bottom and shaped like a mouth. They all stepped slowly inside.

“Hello?” Henry yelled as they moved into the entrance zone, his hands forming a circle close to his mouth. Immediately after, his voice echoed back to him. 

Winry had a finger raised and shushed her son. “Not so loud, Henry,” she warned in a whisper.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing in here to harm him except maybe startled bats,” Daria said.

The whole group continued further into the cave, entering the twilight zone part of it. There was much less sunlight now than when they first entered, so Ed turned on a flashlight. He looked around to see some stalagmites and columns sticking out on the ground. There were a few stalactites hanging above them. Winry and Daria also turned on their flashlights to see the cave better.

“So cool!” Jane said while looking back and forth. “Are all of these rocks?” 

“They’re a type of rock formations, yes,” Ed said. “The ones on the floor are called stalagmites and stalactites are…” 

Ed stayed still when squeaking noises were heard. He swung his head to see a few black bats flying towards them. His eyes flew wide.

“Bats!” Esther shouted in fright, pointing at them.

The bats fortunately flew passed them, but Esther still screamed and hid behind her mother. Both Henry and Jane also looked startled, though not as terrified as their sister was. Ed’s face softened—she mentioned not liking bats back in the train ride, but he felt sorry she got very scared like that. 

“It’s all right, Esther. They’re gone now.”

He waited a bit until his daughter showed herself to everyone. 

“Thanks, Dad,” she said, still looking shaky from what just happened. 

Ed smiled back at Esther, but his face turned serious when something occurred to him. “You know where exactly the notes are?”

“I’m not sure,” Daria said, “but probably deeper into the cave at a chasm called Crystal Hall. The whole area is supposed to glitter like crystals.” 

“That sounds beautiful,” Winry said in awed. 

“We should head over there, then,” Anna said and didn’t hesitate to move forward, as if in a rush. 

Ed and Jane stayed behind briefly while the others followed Anna. He thought it was a bit unusual of her to hurry off like that. It could be she couldn’t wait to get to Crystal Hall, and he admitted to feeling the same way. 

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Jane asked, interrupting his thoughts. She stared up at him.

“Huh? Oh.” He kneeled down to settle both hands on his daughter’s shoulders. “I’m fine, sweetheart,” he reassured with a smile. “I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.” 

“Ed, Jane, are you two coming?” Winry called out to them.

“Mommy wants us to join them,” Jane said, offering her father a large grin.

“Yes she does.” Ed stood up and held Jane’s hand, the pair walking together to join back with everyone. 

As the group plunged deeper into the cave, more stalagmites and stalactites appeared. They soon halted when in front of them were two passages that split into different directions.

“Which of these two passages leads the way to Crystal Hall?” Ed asked and scratched his chin.

“Let me check the map.” Daria pulled out a map from her bag and unfolded it. She studied it a few seconds before pointing to the right side passage. “That one.”

They headed to the right side of the passage and kept walking. Ed stared at Anna’s back a brief moment, that weird feeling when he first met her at the museum two days ago coming back. Should he trust his instincts this time? He wondered if Anna had an idea he felt that way about her. Either way, she hadn’t confronted him over that yet. 

“Are you being skeptical over Anna again?” Winry asked, low enough so neither Anna nor Daria could hear. She arched an eyebrow at him. “After the last couple conversations you two had, I thought you were fine with her.”

It didn’t surprise Ed that his wife would figure out something had been on his mind. He and Winry had known each other since they were children, so they could sense one another if something were wrong very well. No use to lying to her over Anna.

“It’s unusual that she wants to get to the notes quickly,” Ed said, whispering also. 

Winry considered Ed briefly. “I guess Anna is being a little hasty, but all of us can get caught up when getting into something exciting.” 

“Perhaps.” Ed still wasn’t entirely convinced, but he was willing to consider that possibility open. He frowned. “I’m sorry if you’re annoyed with me over this.”

“Not annoyed, just a little concerned,” she said, offering him a small smile. 

He wasn’t sure he should be relieved or not upon hearing that. It was good that he didn’t irate her. Winry being slightly worried about him, though, was just as worse.

Silence lingered on as the group traveled through more of the passage. The sunlight had stopped trailing behind their backs and the temperature grew much colder. Ed checked his watch and realized they had been in the cave a little over an hour now. 

“I believe that is Crystal Hall up ahead!” Daria said cheerfully, extending her arm.

Ed could see the horizontal entrance of a cavern not far from them. His heart pounded harder against his chest the more steps he took. _We’re actually getting close_ , he thought to himself. 

Once everyone arrived inside the carven, they all gasped and fixed their gazes at the spectacle before them. There were two tall and thick columns in the front similar to a building structure. Every corner of the cave was embellished with very white stalagmites and stalactites that illuminated brightly like crystals. Close by, water dripped into a small basin. Ed visited a few caves before, but never one like this.

“So pretty,” Jane said, still gazing at everything surrounding her.

“No wonder this part of the cave is called Crystal Hall,” Ed said.

“We should be careful while searching the notes here,” Daria said and made two steps. “Don’t touch the columns.” 

Ed made slow steps as he keep an eye on the notes. He believed it might be hidden within the stalagmites somewhere, so he had his flashlight pointed straight at any gaping holes around them.

“I think I found it!” Winry shouted in excitement.

Everyone hurried to where she was and gathered around her. Winry held out a small chest box with a lock attached to it. Simple floral designs adorned the upper part of the chest. She tried to open it, but with no success. 

“No key?” Anna asked and raised an eyebrow.

“Ettero doesn’t need one,” Ed said. “He used alchemy to keep the chest closed.”

“Oh, let me open it!” Henry said as he waved his arm. 

“No way!” Esther stomped her foot and narrowed her eyes at her brother. “You got to make the code appear yesterday. I should do this, instead.”

“Esther’s right,” Winry said. “It’s only fair.” 

Not satisfied, Henry lowered his eyes and crossed his arms against his chest. “Fine.” 

“You can use a blank page from my journal to draw an array,” Daria said as she pulled out her journal book from her bag and handed it to Esther. She also gave her a pen. 

Esther opened the book and started to draw an array. While everyone was waiting, Ed could see the sheer resolve on her face—both she and Henry were always focused whenever they used alchemy. When Esther finally finished with the drawing, she tore the page from the journal and settled it down on the floor. She then gave the journal and pen back to Daria. 

“This should do it.” Esther turned to look at her mother. “Box?”

Winry made a few steps forward until she was close to Esther and handed her the box. She dropped onto her knees, put the box down, and placed her hands onto the array to activate it. Blue light flashed for a few seconds before it quickly disappeared. After Esther picked the chest up, she was able to open it and pulled a journal out. 

“The notes are here!” she said, grinning proudly. 

“Can I have a look at them?” Ed asked nicely. At least they found Ettero’s notes. A million ideas swarmed inside his mind over what could be in them. 

Esther nodded and gave her father the notes. He turned to the first page, crisped on the edges due to age, and read the first paragraph aloud.

“Antimony was the first lady I ever loved and still do, no other woman like her. She was such a golden blessing! It had been many years since our very faithful meeting and I could recall it very well.” Already he caught the elements gold and antimony within the notes. “Ettero had written his notes as a romance story.” 

“Romance? Yuck!” Henry said in disgust and stuck his tongue out. 

Ed flipped through the journal and estimated it to be a hundred pages. It would take some time, but he should be able to solve it without any problems. Some research materials would be nice, too, if he could get his hands on them.

“It’s to be expected Ettero will disguise his notes in code,” Anna said. Ed studied her face carefully, remembering two days ago when she said she knew alchemists often did that. “How long you think you’ll be able to crack it?” 

“There’s some stuff I’ll need to cover, so it’ll take me two or three days at least.” Ed should wait until he and his family get back to Amestris so he could use his books at home, but he wanted to crack it during the long train rides. An idea occurred to him. “Back at the museum you mentioned the villa is here, right?” he asked Daria

“Yes, I did. I don’t know if it’ll be open when we’re back in the city. If not then we can go tomorrow.”

“Either day is fine with me. How about a bookstore?” 

“No Ed, you’re not going to buy a hundred alchemy books,” Winry said in a stern tone, her hands on her hips. “The notes can wait.”

“I don’t plan to buy that much. Just a few that relates to Aerugian alchemy.” 

“Alley City does have one,” Daria said. “It should still be open when we’re back in the city.”

If they were able to go to the villa and bookstore tonight, then he might have a head start on decoding Ettero’s notes. Hopefully some alchemy books are in stock. They should hurry out, then. 

“We got what we wanted here,” Ed said and held the documents up. “I think it’s time for us to leave.”


	7. Chapter 7

Today's journey through Nork Cave had been a lot of fun. Anna loved exploring caves and this one was no exception. She admitted to wanting to hurry to up with the search and wished she had been more careful. Crystal Hall itself was breathtaking to see. 

They were able to find the notes, only for them to be in code. It was a good thing Ed and his children were knowledgeable in alchemy. If she were to find them on her own, she wouldn't be able to solve it.

After their trip to the cave, they headed back to Alley City and asked directions to the villa. One man told them it was closed for today but it should be open tomorrow morning. He wrote the directions on a piece of paper and gave it to Daria. They were able to find a bookstore, though, and Ed bought a few books for his research. They were done for the night. 

She and everyone else were staying in the same hotel. She had left her own room to go visit Ed with the intention of finding out if he already started deciphering the documents. While there, she would also ask Winry if she had any perfume. Anna knocked on the door and waited until Winry to open it. She greeted her with a smile. 

"Oh hi, Anna!" 

"Hello, Winry. May I come inside a minute?"

"Sure you can." 

Winry stepped aside so that Anna could enter the room. Moving further, she spotted Ed next to a desk jotting down some notes. The children stood behind, watching their father work. Some books were piled up on his right. His eyebrows furrowed as he studied the journal in front of him.

"Ed, Anna is here," Winry said to him.

Ed froze his pen and looked up to see Anna. "What brings you here, Anna?" he asked.

“I was wondering if you would be interested in some books on alchemy being used in architecture.”

A flabbergasted look crossed Ed's features. "Why is that?” 

Anna held herself from smirking. It was amusing to see him caught off guard like that. 

"You were quite amazed at Ettero Gatti’s castle when we went there yesterday and I thought you might like to know more similar archeological finds.”

"Oh." He cleared his throat. “Well, that’s very generous of you, but it’s all right.”

Most likely Ed didn’t accept her offer because he was still suspicious of her. She should’ve known he wasn’t going to fall for that. No problem, it wasn’t necessary. 

"If you don’t want them, then that’s fine.” Pausing, Anna took a quick glimpse at the journal and books. "I see you already begun work on decoding it."

"Yeah. Haven't gotten much done yet, but it's a start. Tomorrow’s visit to the villa should help me in decoding the notes.”

"Our dad will be able to solve it no time!" Esther said in great confidence.

Anna laughed. "I'm sure he will." 

Ed smiled a little and looked back at Ettero's notes. A second later, his eyes flew wide. 

"There's something I'm suddenly curious about," he said. "You have any idea why Ettero had his notes into a romance story?"

"His brother was a novelist under a pen name, so I think that's why."

"Huh, interesting.” 

Having done talking with Ed, Anna faked a yawn. "Well, I'll be leaving you to get back decoding those notes. “ She then faced Winry. “Oh, Winry! Before I go, you have any perfume I can borrow? I used all of mine up today and I don’t really want to go to different shops this late at night.”

Winry looked confused by that request but smiled right after. “Sure! Hold on a moment.” 

Anna waited as Winry went to the bathroom and then came back with a small bottle of perfume. She gave it to her. 

“I really appreciate it, thank you.” Looking at everyone, she said, “Have a good rest, everyone."

Ed and his family said goodnight to her before she left the room. 

She would have to wait until he solved the code to snatch the journal from him. Just a while longer. 

+++

The next morning Ed and everyone else left the hotel to go to the villa, just north of the city. It wasn’t too long a walk, and once they arrived, he stood gazing in astonishment. 

In front of the villa was a large garden with a non-working fountain at the center. The building had five bay loggias and there were several windows spread throughout. The group stepped inside the entrance hall and they were greeted with lavish paintings. Ed spotted one that featured a lady and a gentleman dancing in the rain together and another of someone surrounded with several animals.

“The paintings are magnificent, aren’t they? That one is called _Last Dance_ and the other one is _Nature and Man_ ,” Daria said as she pointed to the paintings. “One of the previous owners hired several artists to paint in frescos.” 

“So this is the villa the academy visited often,” Ed said. He imagined the building to be slightly less extravagant. “I wouldn’t mind living here.”

“I didn’t know you have good taste, Ed,” Winry said and offered him a teasing smile. “You’re usually into something ridiculous like skulls and spikes.”

“That was many years ago,” Ed murmured and pressed his lips in protest. “ I’ve changed.” 

Winry responded with a snicker.

“One of the academy members bought this as a summer residence,” Anna said this time. “This was the academy’s meeting place until the group had dissolved. Many years later it was recognized as a historic site.”

Ed stopped gazing at the paintings when he heard footsteps nearby. He turned to see an older looking man heading towards them. Everyone else noticed him coming also.

“Hello, I’m Julius and I’m in charge of the visits here,” he said when he approached them. “How may I help you?” 

“We were wondering if you can show us where the Academy of the Falcon’s notes are,” Ed said.

The smile on Julius’s face grew wider. “Ah. I take it you’re an alchemist?”

“I am,” he said immediately and smirked. Granted he couldn’t use alchemy anymore, but he still studied it. “I want to learn more about Aerugian alchemy and thought their notes would be useful.”

“My brother and I are alchemists, too!” Esther said and threw a grin at Julius. 

Julius nodded. “You can find them in the library room. Follow me.” 

Everyone followed Julius up the stairs to the next floor and into a large room. The walls had also been painted like in the entrance hall and there were several shelves that were filled with books. A long table stretched out in the middle of the room. The main window had a beautiful view of the garden in the front. 

“This is the room the members use if they want to study alchemy alone or collaborate together. They also store their works here.” 

Esther looked around the room in great interest, her mouth left open wide. “There’s lots of book in here.”

“Are you an alchemist also?” Henry asked Julius as he fixed his gaze up towards him.

“Indeed I am,” Julius said and grinned. “I researched the Academy of the Falcon for a while now.”

Ed flinched. It made perfect sense for an alchemist to oversee this villa. That meant Julius was already aware of the notes being disguised to prevent public viewing.

“Then you probably decoded some or all of their notes in here,” he said.

“There are some I managed to decode, yes. I’ll show you one of them.”

Everyone watched when Julius headed to one of the shelves, grabbed a book, and went back to them. He stood next to Ed and handed him the book. Flipping through the pages, Ed skimmed some of the writing and recognized many of the alchemical elements used in the notes.

It occurred to Ed that Julius could help him with Ettero’s notes. However, that would mean staying Aerugo longer and he was certain Winry and the kids wouldn’t like that at all. It would also be weird to ask a stranger for help something as big as deciphering documents.

“These notes are supposed to be alchemy experiments concerning copper,” Julius said, “and they were able to transmute several items from that element. Another one of their notes has some interesting researches concerning lightning alchemy. ” 

Ed hummed in acknowledgement and looked through the notes a while longer. It would be great if he could take some of the materials from the library with him back home, but he doubt Julius allowed that. He could have a look at them, at least.

“Is it all right if I check the notes out for a bit? I won’t take too long.”

Scratching the back of his head, Julius took a moment to consider. “You did say you want to know more about Aerugian alchemy. All right, you can look at the notes, but be careful with them. If you need any help, I’ll be in my office two rooms down.” He quickly headed out the room, leaving everyone alone.

“You didn’t tell him about Ettero’s notes?” Anna asked, looking at him in confusion. “He might help us solve them.”

“I thought about that, but I don’t want to bother him with it.” He smiled. “Besides, my family and I need to get back to Amestris soon.”

“You want us to leave you alone while you read through the notes?” Winry asked.

“I want to help!” Henry said in an eager tone.

“Me too!” Esther said right after, sounding just as willing.

“Are you sure you guys want to?” Ed asked. 

Both siblings nodded without hesitation. They were capable of reading advanced alchemy literature and all he needed were some hints as to what Ettero could be researching, so no need for them trying to decipher codes. He also trusted them to not mess the room around.

“Okay, the both of you can stay.”

The pair shouted in glee and high fived one another. 

“We can wait outside while they work,” Daria said. 

Winry nodded in agreement. Looking back at Ed, Esther, and Henry, she said to them, “You three better come outside when it’s time for lunch.” 

“We will, Mom!” After saying that, Henry beamed at her. 

Winry and Jane left the room together first while Daria and Anna followed them behind. Once everyone was gone, Ed turned to face Henry and Esther. 

“Right then. We should get started.” Ed took a moment to glimpse around the room. “Esther, you go check the books at the right while Henry looks through the ones on the left.” 

“Okay!” Esther and Henry said in unison before they dashed off in opposite directions.

They didn’t have much time, so all of them had to work through as much material as possible before they need to leave.

Ed didn’t bring Ettero’s documents with him to the villa, but he still remembered the alchemy references that popped up. Not surprisingly, several of them had been mentioned in the notes archived here also. 

Each time Ed found something that could relate to Ettero’s research he wrote it down on his journal. Often, Henry and Esther showed him anything they caught and he would make a note of it. Anything they could find helps. 

He sat next to the table studying another set of the academy’s notes. His children were reading too, sitting across from him. Ed tore his eyes from the page when he noticed Julius stepping inside the room. 

“I came by to see if everything’s all right,” he said.

“We’re fine here,” Ed said, smiling.

Julius looked back and forth. “You had more people with you before. I take it they left?”

“Everyone else is waiting outside while we help Dad with his research,” Henry said.

Julius chuckled. Facing Ed, he said, “Your children are very bright, then.”

“I taught them everything I know about alchemy.”

“I can see. Have you found anything interesting?”

“A few things, yes. It’s cool that they had done so many different researches.” Ed made a quick glance at what he wrote down so far. “You have anything on antimony?”

“Yes. Hold on one minute.”

Ed looked over his shoulder to see Julius headed to one of the shelves. He had his finger scanned through the books until he found one and pulled it out. Julius then walked back to Ed and handed him the book. 

“Thank you,” Ed said. He opened the book and studied the pages carefully. These notes seemed to be written as a travel log. 

“Are you all from Amestris or Creta?” Julius asked after a short silence from everyone.

Upon hearing that question, Ed looked up at him. “We’re from Amestris, yeah.”

“Many of the alchemists that visited here are from either of those countries. Like you, usually they want to see the notes as it would benefit their research. It’s always nice to see the ones outside of Aerugo have an interest in this academy group.”

Ed had his elbow rested on the table and hand on his chin as he listened to Julius. It was common for alchemists to travel around different countries to gain more knowledge on alchemy. He, his brother, and Hohenheim had done that. He could see why alchemists wanted to come to this villa. He was pulled away from his thoughts when Henry tugged on his sleeve. 

“This looks like a drawing of a gemstone,” he said while giving Ed the notes.

There was indeed a simple drawing of a turquoise. Ed read a paragraph of the writing, which described a girl asking a bird where to find that particular gemstone. This one seemed to be an adventure story. 

“Oh that one two alchemists, Ettero Gatti and Augustus de Rege, collaborated on transmuting different things into gemstones. There were some interesting results.”

Ed’s eyes grew wide. “Did you say Ettero Gatti?”

“Yes I did. Is he of great interest to you?”

Ed hesitant to speak at first, but then he thought of a response. “Sort of. My father had studied about him long ago.” Technically it was true. Hohenheim did learn about Ettero during his travels at Aerugo. 

“Mom’s going to be mad if we don’t leave soon,” Esther suddenly said. 

Glancing at his watch, Ed saw that it was close to lunchtime. He did promise Winry they would be back by then. He rose from his seat and began to pick up the books, Henry and Esther doing the same. 

“We really appreciate you letting us stay here for a while,” Ed said when he reached to Julius. He had the books against his chest. 

“It’s my pleasure,” Julius said. “Come visit again when you have a chance.” He extended his hand and Ed shook it. Right after, Julius stepped out of the room. 

“We should put these books back and then we can go,” Ed said as he looked at Esther and Henry. Both of his children nodded in agreement. 

The mention of gemstone should be a huge clue as to what Ettero had researched. It was likely he was able to make something valuable and didn’t want anyone else to know. Ed needed to examine more of his notes to be absolutely sure but figured out a direction he could follow up on.


	8. Chapter 8

Winry was glad that today would be their last day in Aerugo and that they were finally going back home. They acquired the notes and Ed got to find out more about that academy, so there was no use in staying any longer. 

She and her family were packing their things up before they were to go to the train station. Anna and Daria would join them also. After Winry packed everything, she reminded herself Anna still has her perfume. 

“I’m going to get my perfume back from Anna, it’ll only be a second,” she said to Ed. “Watch the kids for me.”

“All right,” Ed said, and Winry immediately left the room.

Anna’s room was on the same floor and a few doors away. Winry knocked on the door, waiting until Anna opened it with a stunned expression on her face.

“Winry! What brings you here?”

“I came to see if you still have my perfume with you.”

Anna nodded. “I actually planned to give it back to you after I finish packing. You can come inside.”

Winry allowed herself to step inside. She first noticed a suitcase and small pile of clothes on the bed. Several journals were stacked neatly on the desk. 

“The perfume is in the bathroom. Wait here.”

After Anna left her alone, Winry glanced around the room. She brought her attention back to the journals on the desk. Curious, she moved a few steps forward and grabbed one of the journals. Before she could open it, some loose paper dropped on the floor. Winry immediately bent down to pick them up. The papers seemed to be ripped from a book. As she studied the first page, Winry recognized it to be –

_The travel notes. No, it can’t be._

“Winry, is everything all right?” Anna called out.

Startled, Winry hastily shoved the papers inside her bag. Anna stepped out of the bathroom, her fingers holding the perfume bottle. 

“I’m fine!” she said and offered her an awkward grin. “I was just looking through some of the journals on the table.” 

Anna shot her a weird look, as if not believing her. She then cleared her throat. “Here’s your perfume.”

Winry approached Anna, took the perfume from her, and put it inside her bag. “Thanks.”

“Meet you at the train station, then?”

That would make things very unusual. Winry wanted to ask Anna some questions but unable to. It was clear she sensed something was wrong. 

“Uh…Yes, definitely!” she managed to say while forcing another grin. “See you later!”

Winry took the opportunity to rush out of the room, feeling Anna’s stare behind her back.

Many questions swarmed inside Winry’s head. How Anna had gotten her hands on the notes? Did she want the documents the whole time? And if so, what were her intentions of using them? Daria had said a student of her father’s was the one that stole it. Unless the notes somehow had been passed down from one person to another, she was probably related to that student. 

When she returned back to her hotel room, Winry saw Ed and their kids almost done with their packing. Her husband greeted her with a smile.

“You got your perfume back?”

“I did. However, I found something while there.”

Winry pulled out the notes, showing them to her family. A shocked expression crossed Ed’s face.

“Are those Mr. Russo’s notes?” 

“Yes. Anna left some journals on the desk and the notes slipped off from one of them.” 

As she watched Ed scratching his chin, Winry wondered what was on his mind. It was likely he had the same question as she did earlier. Their children, noticing something was going on, went to gather around them.

“Can I look at them?” he asked at last.

She offered Ed a single nod and handed him the pages. Ed skimmed through them a short while before he set them down on the desk, letting out a long sigh. The both of them sat on the bed together.

“We have to let Daria know about this.” 

“I know,” Winry said, dropping her head down. “Should we go to her now?”

Ed’s mouth was left open when someone knocked on the door. She and Ed stared at each other, waiting to see who would be the one to open it. Climbing out of the bed, Winry decided she would do that. 

She opened the door and found herself in front of—

“Daria!” Winry said in surprise. 

“I just came by to see if all of you are ready to head to the train station or not.” 

Some part of Winry didn’t want to break the bad news to her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Ed giving her a single nod. Bracing herself, Winry swallowed hard.

“There’s something you should know.” 

The smile on Daria’s face faded. Winry gently squeezed her hand and led her to the chair beside the desk. Daria sat down, still looking puzzled. Seeing her like that made Winry’s heart sank.

“We managed to get your father’s notes,” Ed broke it to her first. To show he wasn’t lying, he handed the last few pages. Daria looked through them, her jaw dropping. 

“This is unbelievable. But how?”

“WInry was in Anna’s room just now and found them in a stack of journals.” 

“Anna had them? Then that means she was related to one of my father’s students.”

“That was my first thought, also,” Winry said. She still couldn’t shake off the thought of what had happened. 

“Is she a bad person, then?” Jane asked, looking upset over all this. Esther too wore the same expression while their brother was the only one hesitant how to make of this.

Unsure how to answer that, Winry frowned. Her perception of Anna changed in one fell swoop. Ed and Daria remained silent also, which she assumed they were feeling the same way.

“Should we go to her room and ask?” Henry suggested. 

Winry gazed at Daria while she was staring at her father’s notes. 

“I do want some answers for all of this,” Daria said bitterly as she jerked the pages slightly. “Let’s go.” She rose from the chair and headed out of the room.

Anna had betrayed her— _everyone’s_ —trust, so it was understandable she would be very upset right now. Winry along with her family immediately followed her.

By the time they reached to Anna’s room, Winry, Ed, and the kids were behind Daria as she furiously knocked on the door. 

“Anna, this is Daria! We need to talk!”

No answer. She knocked again, still nothing.

“Either she left or isn’t answering,” Winry said. Anna was still in the process of packing when she visited her. 

“There’s one way to find out,” Esther said. When she pulled out a chalk, Winry realized her daughter volunteered herself to break open the room. 

“Are you sure about that?” Daria asked when she raised her eyebrow at her. “I don’t want us to get in trouble.”

Esther already began drawing a circle around the door. “I can easily clean up the drawing later,” she said and drew more circles.

When she finished the transmutation circle, Esther placed her hands on it and blue light flashed. She let go of her hands and backed away just as the door opened slightly. Ed stepped inside the room first, grabbing the knob to move it aside. Everyone else slowly followed him behind. 

The room was empty besides the furniture. Winry saw neither the clothes nor the journals Anna brought with her. It was obvious what had occurred. 

“She realized I got the notes and ran away before we can talk to her,” she said. 

“Could she still be at the lobby checking herself out?” Daria asked.

“Maybe,” Ed said. Winry thought that was a possibility also. “We better hurry.” 

Esther needed to quickly wipe her transmutation circle on the door first before anyone could leave. They all took the elevator to go down to the lobby. Winry looked around to see if Anna was passing by, but there was no sight of her. She locked her gaze at the receptionist at the desk, who was busy on the phone. Winry glanced at Ed, who was looking in the same direction. The both of them thought the same thing. Everyone hurried to the reception area. 

“Yes, your room is reserved for next week. You’re welcome, have a good day, sir.” The receptionist put the receiver down before noticing the group. “How I may help you?” 

“Did a brunette woman in a black jacket and pants checkout just recently?” Ed asked.

“Yes she did, she just left the door.” The receptionist shot everyone a blank stare. “You know her?”

“She used to be with us,” Daria said. “But I found out she had something of mine and want to talk to her.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t help you with that. I’m sorry.” The phone suddenly rang and the receptionist picked it up. 

There was still a chance Anna didn’t get too far, Winry thought. “We might still catch her outside.” 

Everyone rushed out of the hotel. The streets were fairly busy in the afternoon. They passed through several people that ignored them.

“She’s probably at the train station already,” Daria said when everyone stopped in front of a meat shop.

“Winry and I will go over there, then,” Ed said. “Can you watch the kids while we’re away?”

“Of course.”

Leaving Daria and the children behind, Winry and Ed made a dash for it. She wasn’t sure if they would find her there, but it was worth a shot. 

“You think she’s heading back to Amestris?” Winry asked.

“Don’t know. She could be boarding the train to anywhere.”

That wasn’t the response Winry wanted to hear. If that were the case, then they lost Anna for good. While running, she thought back to the few times Ed expressed his doubts over her and that left an uneasy feeling inside Winry’s stomach. 

“Your suspicions over Anna were correct. I should’ve listened to you, Ed.”

Ed looked back at Winry over his shoulder, tossing her a supportive smile. “Hey, I didn’t know she had Mr. Russo’s travel notes either. Right now we need to get answers from her.” 

He was right this wasn’t the right time to feel bad over past mistakes. Winry hummed in agreement, nodding at him. 

The pair eventually made it to the crowded train station. Winry kept looking back and forth to see if Anna was either boarding a train or waiting in line. She was nowhere to be seen. 

“Please don’t tell me we missed her,” Ed panted, his hands resting on his knees. They had halted to catch their breaths. 

Winry dragged out a defeated sigh, her shoulders slumping. “I think we did.”


	9. Chapter 9

The unpleasant silence lingered on during the train ride back to Amestris.

Ed would've been happy going back home but felt drained after what happened earlier that day He had found something that could help him in deciphering the documents and looked forward to making more progress on that. However, the news of Anna with Mr. Russo's journal pages changed that; Ed told Winry the truth when he said he didn't expect that despite his suspicions. 

_Anna would've snatched the alchemy notes too after I finish decoding it._ That thought didn't sit well with him at all. 

"Anna knew the documents are related to valuable gemstones," he said, the first to speak since they left Alley City. "That’s why she wants them." 

"So that's it," Daria said. "Gemstones are common sought out artifacts, especially jewelry."

"Will you keep figuring out the code?" Henry asked, looking up to his father. 

"I'm still going to do it. I might be able to make some progress before we reach Amestris, but I need to double check some things."

"That's good," Winry said. "I wouldn’t want you to stop because of Anna."

Ed frowned. That could've been the case, but he was never the one to give up that easily. 

"Ed, if you want I can let you read the rest of my father's notes,” Daria said.

"How about you? Aren't you curious about what your father discovered?"

"I am, but you'll benefit from them more than me."

Considering Daria's offer, he scratched his chin. Reading the rest of the pages should help him with decoding the notes. Another resource that he could use. 

"If that's what you think, then sure."

With a small smile, Daria pulled the notes from her bag and stretched over to give them to Ed. He skimmed through the pages to see if there were any mentions of gemstones in them and managed to find one.

"Hohenheim also thought gemstones after almost halfway through decoding it." 

"Anything else?" Esther asked, very curious.

Ed studied more of the pages. Stumbling upon something, he said, "There is one part where he was able to transmute several small gemstones but those weren't what he wanted."

"He had been experimenting with trial and error, then," Winry said. 

There was a specific gemstone Hohenheim wanted to transmute, and Ed didn't need to read further to figure out which one. A triumph smirk pulled on the corner of his mouth.

"Of course, diamonds. That's what Ettero had been researching." 

Daria stared at him, as if something just crossed her mind. "Your father wanted the same thing, also?"

"I can't see Hohenheim being that greedy. As Winry pointed out, just experimenting.” When Ed went back to reading, there were a few paragraphs that described Hohenheim able to transmute diamonds but didn’t give any hints as to how. Later on he insisted the alchemy notes were put back in the cave so that a non-alchemist doesn’t find it. The very last page had them doing just that. “Just as I thought, the notes were put back in the cave after he decoded them." 

“Looks like that’s all, then.” 

Ed smiled a little. A few days ago he thought he wouldn’t be able to find out how Hohenheim and Mr. Russo’s journey ended. He just read the ending now and it left him satisfied that his father didn’t use the notes for something bad. 

“Is there a mention on why your father created those diamonds?” Winry asked. 

“Just that he’s curious what the main ingredient is, and I’m going to find out.” Ed picked the leather bag that he had left on the floor, taking out his journal, a pen, and Ettero's notes. Just how diamonds could be transmuted he wanted to know more about. 

+++

 

When Daria first set out this trip, she thought it would be a fun one. It was for the most part, as she visited different cities and got to go to a castle, cave, and a villa. Winry and her family had been a huge help, so she was very grateful for them. Anna was great to be with, too, before it was revealed she had her father’s notes. She still couldn’t believe that had happened. 

Ed had been decoding the alchemy notes during most of the train ride and was almost done with it. She was impressed how fast he got through them—he should be able to solve it in no time. The ripped pages of her father’s journal had also been returned to her when Ed finished with them.

It took a few days for the train to reach South City. After everyone stepped into the platform, Daria made a phone call to Norm, asking him to pick her up. The train ride to Rush Valley wasn’t going to leave for another half hour, so the family kept her company while she waited for Norm outside the train station.

“Will you be telling your husband what happened?” Ed asked. 

“I’ve been thinking how I’ll explain everything to him.” She smiled softly. “As long as I’m safe, it doesn’t matter.” 

At that moment, a car parked at the curb and Daria recognized it to be her husband’s. Norm climbed out of the car and shot her a warm smile. Overwhelmed in seeing Norm again, she threw her arms around him for a long embrace. Her head rested comfortably on his shoulder.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered. 

They let go of their hug, Daria taking a step back, and Norm chuckled. “I’m happy that you’re all right. So, how was the trip?”

“Overall, it was great! Winry, Ed, and their kids had been a tremendous help. We got the notes that I wanted to see and Ed has them for now so that he can decipher the code.” 

“That’s wonderful!” Turning around, he tossed everyone a pleased grin. “I really appreciate all of you helping her out.”

“Not a problem at all,” she returned with a grin of her own. 

“Did you bring our toys and books?” Esther asked. 

“I have them at the backseat.” Norm opened the backdoor and the children rushed to grab their things from the car. 

As she watched, an idea popped up inside her head. Daria spun around to face Ed and Winry.

“South City has a library you can use for your research, Ed.”

“That’s all right,” he said. The children, each one carrying a bag with their things inside, returned to their parents’ side. “I have some texts on gemstone transmutation back at Rush Valley. It’s time to head back home, anyways.”

“Well, all of you are always welcome to visit us anytime,” Norm said.

“Call me when you manage to decode the notes.”

“I will for sure!”

Daria made a small farewell wave at everyone. Norm let her go inside the car first so that she could slide into the passenger seat. He moved in right after, closed the door, and started the engine. The windows opened, she could hear Winry and Ed saying goodbye. 

Norm pulled out of the curb and drove into the streets. Daria fixed her gaze outside, thinking to herself that she still needed to tell her husband the truth. It was best to get this over with.

“There was something else we found also,” she said, straightening herself back in her seat.

“Oh, what is it?” Norm glimpsed at her a second before turning his eyes back on the road. 

Daria swallowed to herself. “My father’s missing journal pages.”

“Also fantastic!”

“No, it’s not. You see, there was this woman we met at Padrid City. I thought she was nice and allowed her to join us. When we were ready to leave, I find out she had those pages the whole time.”

Still paying attention to the road, he frowned. “Were you able to talk to her?”

“She ran away before we could.”

“That’s a shame. I’m sorry to hear that,” Norm said, sounding disappointed. He looked uncertain what to say next. 

Daria sighed and her eyes dropped. All she wanted was a nice hot bath, some tea, and to forget about Anna for a while.

+++

Once they returned home, Ed immediately went inside his study room to continue working on solving the documents.

He read through the notes he had written during the train ride back to Amestris several times. As he tapped his pen on the desk, Ed felt there was something missing but wasn't sure what. The answer to the code was just within his fingertips and yet he hit an obstacle. He took a quick glance at the book on his left, Gemstones in Creta.

The few books he had about gemstones were from back when he had traveled to the countries in the West. There were a few recorded accounts of alchemists able to transmute a variety of gemstones several centuries ago, but it was believed many more notes had been lost. Ed believed there were some research on diamonds back then.

He was interrupted when Winry and Joseph stepped inside his study room together. Earlier Winry had a call from her apprentice mentioning he made it to the train station and she had left to pick him up.

"Hello, Mr. Elric." Joseph said, a delighted expression crossing his features. Ed offered him a smile, also. 

"Hey, Joseph. How was your visit with your family?"

"It was great! I had a lot of fun with them. I'm glad the both of you suggested that."

Closing her eyes, Winry made a pleased smile. "That's great to hear."

A short silence followed. Joseph's face changed and he cleared his throat.

"So, all of you found notes that needs to be decoded," he said.

Ed glanced at Winry, who was making a small frown. No surprise she told Joseph some of the details of the trip. Before answering, he leaned back and gently rubbed his forehead. 

"I already figured out what was researched but unsure how it was done. I'm getting close to cracking the code, though."

"That's good." Joseph suddenly yawned, his hand covering his mouth. "I'm heading to bed now."

"Good night, Joseph," Winry said. 

Joseph gave the both of them a slight nod before stepping out of the room. Taking a deep breath, Ed had his hand on the chin while he rested his elbow on the desk. He could see, from the corner of his eye, Winry looking at him in concern. 

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm just glad we're finally home."

"Yeah. The journey through Aerugo was longer than expected." Winry lowered her voice when she next said, "I'm sure my clients aren't happy the shop was closed this long."

Feeling bad, Ed frowned and his heart sank. "It's my fault I dragged the whole family into this."

Winry shook her head. "I was the one that decided to go with you. Besides, thanks to Henry and Esther we're able to find the alchemy notes." 

She moved closer to the front of the desk, grabbed Ed's hand, and caressed it. Ed always loved the smooth touches of her fingers on his skin. Looking up to see Winry's face, he smiled at her.

"You're right."

As Ed shared a brief kiss with Winry, the phone ringing from the workshop was heard. They tensed and looked straight into each other’s eyes. 

"Who could be calling at this hour?" Ed asked. He didn't remember his wife accepting visitors this late at night. 

They left the room together, heading straight to the workshop. Ed stood still while Winry answered the phone, which was on the worktable. 

“Rockbell Automail Studio.” Winry stopped to listen and her eyes grew wide. “Anna? How you get this number?” Another pause. Covering the receiver with her hand, she looked at Ed with a disturbed expression on her face. “She wants to talk to you.” 

Hearing Anna’s name made Ed’s stomach twist. He didn’t think she would contact them. Nonetheless, he grabbed the receiver from Winry.

“What is it?”

“If you want an explanation over everything, visit Dublith this Sunday. Meet me at _Sweet Delights Cafe_ , seven o’clock at night. Bring the documents with you.” 

She immediately hung up before Ed had his chance to speak. Frustrated, he slammed the receiver on the phone and scratched his back of his head. 

“What did she say?” 

“Anna wants me to meet her at Dublith Sunday night and to bring the alchemy notes.” That was two days away, but Ed could catch a late morning train and be able to make it. He had a heavy suspicion Anna wanted him alone even though she didn’t say it straight out.

“It’s obvious she still wants the notes. I’m coming with you.” 

“No, you’re staying here. You need to watch over your shop.” 

Winry made a heavy sigh, rather apparent she wasn’t in favor of this. “All right, but be careful.”

It was doubtful he was in any serious danger, but Ed still made a mental note to take precautions. Daria then crossed his mind—did she receive the same message, too? 

“I think Anna wants Daria to visit Dublith also since she had her father’s notes. At least she gets to know everything.” 

“I believe so, too. It wouldn’t make sense, otherwise.” 

Two days until he had to meet Anna. Most likely Ed would be able to solve the code tomorrow because he made a lot of progress during the train ride. This might be his only chance to get some answers from her.


	10. Chapter 10

The call from last night had been on Winry’s mind almost all morning while she got back working.

When she had listened to Anna’s voice from the other line, her heartbeat quickened. Her request for Ed to bring the notes with him left Winry uncomfortable, afraid something might happen to him. She still didn’t think he should go alone.

She knew Ed wanted to decipher the code as soon as possible, but feared he would overstress himself. During breakfast he hardly touched his food, briefly mentioning his concern if there was something he overlooked. That prompted Winry to check on him around an hour later. She was greeted with the sight of him staring down at his books in irritation, staying long enough to see him leaned back on his chair as he gave a heavy sigh. It pained her to see him like that. 

Because of her thoughts over Anna and Ed, Winry wasn’t able to focus on the leg she needed to finish assembling. She never had any trouble returning to work after being away a while before, yet today it was difficult for her to get back in the swing of things. 

“Something bothering you?” 

That question caused Winry to flinch. She swung around to see Joseph staring worryingly at her. The drill press he had been using was turned off. Before speaking, she titled her head back and fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

“Ed’s displeased with not cracking the notes yet.” 

Joseph offered her a supportive smile. “I’m sure he’ll be able to figure it out.” 

Winry believed so, too. She only wished it wouldn’t consume Ed this much, and it would get worse with him needing to go to Dublith soon. 

Without warning, Esther rushed inside the workshop and smiled widely at the pair.

“Dad solved the code!” she said, clapping excitedly. 

She and Joseph reacted at the same time, looking at one another in stunned surprise. They rose from their seats and hurried out of the workshop with Esther. Her daughter led them to the study room, where Jane and Ed had been waiting for them. Henry was the only one not present. 

“Where’s Henry?” she asked.

“I’ll get to that in a minute.” A smug grin stretched across Ed’s face. “I’ve just deciphered the documents. To put it simply, you need carbon.”

“Like the carbon fibers used for automail?” Joseph asked.

Already not liking that suggestion, Winry placed her hands on her hips and stared at Ed. “You better not use one of the prosthetics to test this out!”

Ed snorted. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m thinking something that’ll be much easier to transmute, like the charcoal sticks artists use for their drawings. I had Henry go to the store across from here to see if it has any.”

A moment passed by until Henry stepped inside the room and joined everyone. He carried with him a small box.

“I got the charcoal sticks, Dad!” he said, handing his father the box.

Winry watched as Ed pulled out three charcoal sticks, each one in slightly different length. Smirking, he used a finger from his free hand to point downward. She looked down and only now noticed an array drawn on the floor. She had no idea over the meaning of the alchemic symbols present, but trusted Ed knew what he was doing. 

“I drew a basic transmutation circle that the kids can use.” As he dropped to his knees, Ed placed the charcoal sticks in the middle of the transmutation circle. He then straightened up and said, “Since Esther did two transmutations back at Aerugo, you get to do this one, Henry.”

After stepping forward, Henry stopped to study the array. He kneeled down, his palms touching it. When a blue flash lit up, Winry and the others took a stepped back. The light soon faded and in front of the group was a small diamond that glimmered. Henry picked it up and beamed.

“That’s amazing!” Joseph praised. 

Jane gazed at it in admiration. “Pretty…” 

“It’s great that you finally deciphered the code, Ed,” Winry said, turning her head to offer him a proud smile. 

“Been a while since I solved these kind of documents, so I’m glad that’s over with. “ Ed paused a short moment, his face turning serious. “I’m not bringing the notes with me to Dublith tomorrow.”

“I’m sure she’ll ask why you didn’t listen to her,” she said. Very likely Anna would threaten him for the notes, something that troubled Winry since she called them. 

“If she does, I’ll say because she clearly wants them for herself.”

The family hadn’t fully settled in home from the long trip yet and already Ed needed to leave. He didn’t want her to join him, so all she could do was wish for him to be safe. 

+++

Even though the train ride from Rush Valley to Dublith only took a few hours, Ed still felt as if he was crossing Aerugo once more. Being alone, with no one else to talk with, time seemed to slow down. 

Dublith hadn’t changed much the last time he visited. A few new shops had been built while some of the ones still running got remodeled. The temperature stayed warm when the sun began to set. Ed passed by someone every few steps, but the town was fairly quiet as he predicted. Never been to _Sweet Delights Café_ before, he asked the next person he spotted where it was and got directions.

He managed to find the café a short while after. The outside patio had two people seated at a table, neither of them Anna. Ed went inside the building and stopped after taking two steps to glance around. A few more people had occupied the seats, and he swallowed hard. He immediately spotted Daria sitting at the corner, her automail arm resting on the table—his guess that she would be here too was correct. As he headed over to her table, Ed caught her gazing at him in surprise. 

“Ed! What are you doing here?” she asked when he stood in front of her. Before answering, Ed grabbed the chair and sat down across from her.

“Anna called me to come here. I take it you got a similar phone call.”

“Yes. Apparently she wants us together. While I’m glad we’ll get an explanation, I can’t help but think she’s up to something.”

Ed stole a quick glimpse of his watch, ten minutes until seven. They were early, then. During the lingered silence, he remembered the promised he had made to Daria. Now was a good time to let her know.

“I managed to decipher the notes yesterday,” he said, dropping his voice. 

Daria shot him a flabbergasted look. “That’s great!” Covering her mouth slightly, she then whispered, “What did you figure out?”

“Carbon is what’s needed to transmute diamonds. I had Henry experiment with charcoal sticks and it worked.”

“That’s interesting.” There was another brief silence and Daria frowned, her eyes growing with concern. “What will you say if Anna asks you about the notes?”

Ed was about to answer, but his mouth was left open when he heard footsteps nearby. Twisting around, he saw Anna approaching their table. She halted, shooting him and Daria a wicked smile.

“Good, the both of you are here already,” she said and sat down in an empty chair.

Narrowing her eyes at her, Daria asked straight away, “How did you get a hold of the last pages in my father’s journal?”

"My own father was a student of Mr. Russo. He had stolen some of the travel notes and went off to Aerugo to find the treasure. Unfortunately, he had an accident while there and was unable to find it, leaving the pages to languish. I stumbled upon them a few months ago and decided to plan a trip there."

While Ed listened, he already had one question in mind. "How about when you visited the museum? Were you already aware Daria was in Aerugo also?"

"Actually, I didn't. It was pure luck that I stumbled upon all of you, though I recognized Daria right away.” Facing Daria, she then said, “Immediately the idea of working with you came to me."

“You didn’t want us to figure your true intentions,” Daria said, sounding bitter.

“Of course not. If you guys knew I had the pages with me, I would’ve been asked to hand them over.”

He gave Anna a sharp glare. She was right they would request that. It still upset him she had been playing along all this time and they fell for it.

"After Winry found them in your hotel room, you ran away,” he said. 

"Yes. I realized they were gone and rushed out of my room to avoid being asked."

“Why are you explaining everything to us now, then?” Daria pointed out.

“The both of you deserve it even though I had been already found out. “ Anna shrugged, as if not sincere when she said that. “Now that I answered all of your questions, let’s move on.” She fixed her stare at Ed. “Have you deciphered that code?” 

“I have, but I’m not so stupid as to tell you. That’s why I didn’t bring the notes with me.”

A disappointed look crossed Anna’s face. “I figured you would say that. Fine, you can keep them…for now.” She rose out from her seat, made a few steps, and paused to look over her shoulder at Ed and Daria. “I’ll snatch those notes very soon.” Anna returned heading to the door and left the café. 

Daria arched an eyebrow. “That’s all? I guess she didn’t want to cause a scene here.”

“You’re probably right. I also believe she already thought out how she’ll steal the treasure from me.”

That meant he had to keep an eye on anything suspicious, then. She wouldn’t give up until she had the notes.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Ed and Daria went on separate trains. The ride back to Rush Valley took a few hours and by the time he arrived, Winry was at the train station to pick him up. During their walk back home, he told her everything that had been revealed to him and Daria. 

“Huh, so their fathers knew each other. I mean, I already expected a relative of Anna’s stole those pages, but it’s still crazy all of this happened.”

“Tell me about it!” Running through his fingers through his hair, Ed felt overwhelmed over what occurred the last several days. He wondered if there would be some room to finally breathe. “Anna still wants the documents, so we’re not safe from her yet.”

A disappointed sigh escaped from Winry. “There’s no way to know when that’ll happen?”

That was what Ed was afraid of. A warning had been made clear, but it was too furtive. The notes could be swiped right under their noses. He shook his head and clenched his hand.

“Only thing to do is be aware of anything unusual. I told Daria that yesterday, too.” Whether they were going to be successful on that, he wasn’t sure. 

+++

Anna left Dublith on a train for the next town north. She wanted to speak with one particular person that lived there. 

His house was situated in a quiet neighborhood, just a short walk from the hotel Anna was staying at. It had been a while since she last visited him. She hoped he remembered her. She knocked on the door and waited until he opened it, a huge grin stretching across his face. 

“Why, Anna! I didn’t expect you to drop by.”

“It’s great to see you too, Geoffrey. May I come in?”

Geoffrey nodded and let her step inside, closing the door behind them. He guided her to the living room and Anna sat on one of the sofas. She settled her hands on her lap and made a hasty glance at the lamp on the table that lit up the room like early morning sun. 

“Would you like some tea?” he asked.

Smiling, Anna said, “No thank you.”

Geoffrey took a seat on the other sofa, directly facing her. “So, what brings you here?” 

“There is something that I want and you’re the only person I know that can get it for me. But first, there are some things you need to know.”

A curious look drew upon his face. “Go on.” 

Anna explained the full story. She told him how Ermes Russo’s journal pages were stolen from her father and that she had acquired them, about her trip to Aerugo the famous former Fullmetal Alchemist and his family and finding the infamous documents of Ettero Gatti in a cave, and how she had been pretending to help them throughout the journey. The whole time Geoffrey listened intently. 

“Originally I was about to wait until Edward finished solving the code,” she said, finishing up her accounts, “but his wife found the pages and showed it to everyone. I then ran away.”

Crossing his arms, Geoffrey took a moment to gather everything he just heard. “That’s quite a tale there. I still can’t believe you traveled with Edward Elric for a while.”

“Me neither. He’s not one to be fooled easily.”

The smile on Geoffrey’s face disappeared when he said, “I take it you want me to use my alchemy and steal the notes from him.”

He was the first alchemist Anna had met in one of her excavations and helped her a lot. They used to keep in contact often until she got busy with traveling to Drachma and Creta. It was given he would be upset by that request after they hadn’t spoken to each other in a while.

“Yes, that’s what I’m asking .”

As she waited for his answer, Anna could tell he had mixed emotions over that offer. Her heart raced anxiously, the lingering silence unbearable. 

“I’m not sure if I can. You backstabbed everyone!” He rose from his seat, made a few furious steps, and had his back facing Anna. 

Anna’s stomach jumped. The one chance of getting the notes was slipping away from her. She needed to convince him to do this.

“Those documents are very valuable. It’ll make the both of us rich.”

That caused Geoffrey to twist around and arched an eyebrow at her. “Both…of us?” 

Anna stopped herself from chuckling. She got off from the sofa and approached in front of him. Her fingers slid across Geoffrey’s cheek. He let out a shuddered breath.

“If you get the notes for me, I promise you’ll have that fortune also. It’ll be rude of me not to.” She trailed her fingers down Geoffrey’s chest and then jerked his belt buckle. “I’ll even let you share my bed with me.” 

“That does sound tempting,” Geoffrey said and considered a moment, drawing in another breath. “All right, I’ll do it.” 

“Thank you.” To show her appreciation, she kissed him on his cheeks. “Here’s the address to where Edward lives now,” she said and handed him a folded paper from the pocket of her pants. “I also wrote down the inn and room number I’m staying at, so meet me there after you get the notes.” 

Geoffrey unfolded the paper to read it. He then said, “I can take the next train to Rush Valley and come back tomorrow.”

“I’m fine with that. I’ll see you later, then.” 

After turning around, she opened the door and left the house. It took a bit of coaxing, but the deal was done. Very soon, those notes would reach her hands. 

+++

When Winry picked up Ed at the train station, she was relieved that he returned unharmed. However, she hated that Anna was still a threat to them and that they needed to be on constant watch. She wasn’t sure how long they had to keep at it. 

She went to bed early with Ed and collapsed in a deep slumber, but Winry eventually woke up to use the bathroom. She went back to bed, but wasn’t able to fall back asleep yet. Some minutes passed and she heard noises, like someone climbing up the stairs. That made her stomach drop as she was sure Joseph and the children were sleeping. 

“Ed! Ed, wake up!” she whispered, shaking him. A few seconds passed until he stirred. 

“Is something the matter?” he asked as he sat up, his eyes still not fully open.

“I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I think someone broke into our house.”

A stunned expression crossed Ed’s face. He immediately climbed out of bed and went to the closet to snatch a t-shirt, putting it on.

“You wait here while I go check it out.”

“What if you get hurt? I’m not letting you go alone.” 

Ed gave Winry’s concern some thought. She understood he wanted her safe, but she never like being left behind.

“Fine, but stay close with me.” He opened the door and stepped out of the room. Before leaving, Winry grabbed her wrench from under the bed just in case she needed it.

When she reached Ed, he motioned for her to be quiet and they put their backs against the wall. Winry heard a rustling of papers coming from Ed’s study. Locking her gaze at Ed, she had an idea what he was thinking.

“They’re looking for the notes,” he whispered.

“You don’t think they were been sent by…” She couldn’t bring herself to say Anna’s name, yet she knew that was the case. 

“Yes, I think so. Shit.” 

They took slow, cautious steps toward the room. Winry’s heart raced, her nervousness growing more by the second. The pair soon stopped next to the study, which was closed. Ed clutched onto the knob, waiting a moment, and turned it to open the door. She made a step forward to see a man tucking an old journal and some papers under his armpit. He froze the instant he was caught. 

“Who are you?” Ed asked, sneering at him.

The intruder responded by showing them a tattooed hand and Winry recognized the design to be alchemic runes. 

“Winry, watch out!”

A gust of wind blasted them, sending the two to crash onto the wall and hit the floor. Winry gritted her teeth, feeling pain shoot through her sides and shoulder. While still lying down, she heard the sounds of shattered glass and a loud thump on the ground. I>The intruder’s getting away!, she thought frantically. That motivated her to get up even though she was sore. After she stood up straight, she caught Ed already in front of the broken window and staring down outside. She walked up behind him.

“Can we catch him?” Winry asked.

“No. It’s too dark to do that,” Ed said, clasping his hands into a fist. “We need to report this to the military, but likely Anna will have the notes before they could act.” 

Winry lowered her head in disappointment. She too believed that would be the case. This was worse than when they weren’t able to find Anna after she had ran away. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard footsteps coming. She turned around to see Joseph and the children looking at her and Ed in confusion. 

“Did something happen, Miss Winry?” her apprentice asked.

“Someone broke into our house and stole the documents,” she said.

“How about Dad’s notes while he tried to solve the code?” Henry pointed out.

Ed’s face fell and he rushed to his desk. Winry and everyone else watched as he searched through the mess of papers scattered around. Unable to find what he wanted, he slammed his fist onto the desk.

“He got those too.” 

When everyone grew silent, Winry glanced around to see the children hung their heads down while Joseph turned his head, as if unsure what to say. It was very late and she didn’t want them to linger on any longer.

“Joseph, can you take the kids back to bed?”

“Yes, of course.” He faced the children and said, “All right, let’s go now.” 

Joseph ushered the kids out, leaving Winry and Ed alone. Winry stared at the broken window—that would have to be replaced in the morning. Besides reporting it to the military, she was lost as to what course of action they should take.

“Have any idea what we should do next?” 

Ed went to sit down on his chair and rested his elbow on the desk. He dropped his head onto his hands, deep in thought. After a moment, he flashed a grin. 

“Remember a while back when Mustang invited us to his aunt’s new bar?”

Startled, Winry looked at him with wide eyes. She was surprised he remembered one of Fuhrer Mustang’s relatives. 

“Madame Christmas? Yes, I remember her.” Realization suddenly hit her as to why he asked that. “Are you considering asking for her help?”

“The Madame should be able to find out where Anna lives. I’ll go to her home and get the notes.”

Already she found a flaw in Ed’s plan. “What if she doesn’t come back to her home and runs away?”

“I’m already aware of that possibility, but that’s our best shot.”

Winry was still worried this wouldn’t work, but knew they needed to do something at least. She sighed. 

“I guess you’re right. You can call Madame Christmas after we talk with the army and get some rest.” 

+++

When Geoffrey called Anna in the morning to tell her he got the notes and would arrive at her hotel very soon, she was more than thrilled. She knew he would get the job done.

He didn’t visit her until close to lunchtime. As soon as Anna heard the knock, she immediately opened it and was greeted with the sight of him holding a leather bag. She smirked and let him in.

“I take it you were able to get the documents without much trouble?” she asked, closing the door behind them.

“Edward and his wife caught me in the act, but I managed to get away by using my alchemy.”

Anna drew out a heavy sigh. She hoped he would get away without them seeing him but that didn’t happen. Then again, they would figure out she had send someone to break into their house. 

“Well, at least you got what I asked for.” An anticipated smile tugged onto Anna’s lips as she was eager to see the notes now. “Show me the journal.”

Geoffrey returned the smile back and made a few steps toward the table. He set the documents down after pulling them out from the bag.

“I also have some of Edward’s notes,” he said while taking out several more papers to show her. “I got a chance to read through what he wrote and apparently the journal has something to do with transmuting carbon into diamonds.”

Anna approached the table and studied one of Ed’s notes. Even though it was full of formulas and annotations she didn’t fully understand, she was glad Geoffrey brought her these. It was fascinating to have a glimpse of how Edward Elric’s mind worked. 

So the main ingredient was carbon. She already knew the documents had something to do with that valuable gem, and now she found the missing piece of the formula. Yes, this was what she wanted.

“This is more than enough.” Facing him, she offered Geoffrey a pleased smile. 

“Will you be going back to North City later today?”

She didn’t respond immediately. Anna put the paper down and grabbed Ettero’s journal, flipping through the pages. She now possessed one of the most elusive alchemy notes being sought out. Her chest tightened upon that realization. She pondered about whether to tell him or not her true intentions with the documents, only to then decide he deserved to know most of it.

“I will, yes. I’ll then get ready to go to Drachma.” 

A shocked expression crossed Geoffrey’s face. “How come?”

“These notes will be very useful for that country. That’s why I went to Aerugo in the hopes of finding them.”

“I see. Will you still give me some of the fortune? And the sex, also?” 

“Of course. I’ll need some help getting ready, so I want you to come with me to North City. ”

Geoffrey considered her request a moment. “It’s a bit sudden, but all right I’m join you. Let me pack some things first.”

“The next train should leave around four today. You have some time.” 

“I can manage that,” Geoffrey said and nodded. After he left the room, Anna immediately began packing herself. 

So far everything turned into her favor thanks to Geoffrey. She was certain Ed wouldn’t be able to catch her before she crossed Drachma. 

+++ 

Most of the day, Chris Mustang had the bar to herself, the girls not scheduled to come to work for another hour. Besides keeping the place clean, she had contacted her clients to follow them up on any in-progress assignments. The information gathering business was still going strong after all these years and she hoped to keep it that way even after she retired. 

While she was wiping a glass, the telephone rang. She set the rag and glass down on the counter and picked up the receiver. 

"This is The Red Daisies, Madame Christmas speaking." 

"Hello, Madame, this is Edward Elric. I used to work under Mustang."

Smirking, Chris was pleasantly surprised one of Roy’s former men wanted her help. Whatever he wanted should be interesting.

"Ah yes, I remember. So what can I do for you, hun?" 

"I actually have a request for you. Last night someone broke into my house and stole something that belonged to me."

Chris’s eyes flew wide. Well, she hadn’t expected something like a break-in to happen to Ed. 

"Let me guess, alchemy notes?"

"Yes. I actually know who had sent in the intruder and I was wondering if you can find out that person’s home address? I’m asking because I plan to get my notes back from her."

Chris couldn’t say she fully approved of Ed’s plan, but she wasn’t going to stop him. She wanted to know, though, how he figured out who was responsible for all of this.

"Any particular reason why you're sure that person was behind this?" 

"It's a long story, but my family and I had met her during a vacation and she made it clear she wanted those documents."

So it’s a woman, then. She took a moment to ponder over Ed’s request. It seemed he already figured out this person’s motives, and it must be serious if she had sent someone else to steal something from him. No wonder he wanted her help.

"All right, I’ll see what I can do.” She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “What's her name?" she asked. 

"Anna Dabney. If it helps, she lives in North City and what she’s after are diamonds."

Chris scribbled the name, city, and the phrase _seeks diamond_ on paper. "North City, huh? I have a few girls staying there. I'm sure they'll be able to help out."

"Thank you, I appreciate it.”

"Not a problem, hun. I'll call you if I hear anything from them."

She put the receiver down and sighed. Her eyes fell on the note she had written seconds earlier. Chris would get started right away on calling the girls in North City and let them know their assignment. She took her small phonebook out from under the bar, flipped through the pages, and began dialing.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter!

Drachma and Amestris hadn't been in a conflict for several years now, but General Olivier Armstrong still sensed the tension between the two countries. She would never allow herself to avoid the large country's presence while she stayed in Briggs. 

This evening, she was in her office looking through some documents and signing them. The phone on her desk rang and she immediately picked it up.

"This is General Armstrong speaking." 

A chuckle was heard from the other line. "I'll be surprised if you still remember me."

It had been a while, but she still recognized that voice. Olivier smirked.

"I see you're not slowing down anytime soon, Madame Christmas." Mustang had introduced her to the Madame a few years ago and her line of work in information gathering fascinated Oliver. She had grown to respect her. 

"I can be stubborn sometimes, but not as much as Roy-boy." Madame Christmas then said seriously, "Listen General, I had gotten a request from Edward Elric concerning someone he wanted me to find information about, and I think you should know this."

Oliver narrowed her eyes, remembering the last time Edward told her something she needed to know. She never expected him to ask Madame Christmas a favor. This caught her interest. Perhaps Drachma had been up to something.

"I'm listening." She was certain what Madame Christmas wanted to tell her would be important. 

+++

It had been a while since Ed visited Fort Briggs, the last time several years ago with Al. After his train made it to Briggs, he took a carriage ride through the valley and then hiked through the mountains to the fort. Even in late summer, some snow fell and he felt a cool breeze picking up. 

Ed was surprised when he had gotten a phone call from Madame Christmas three days after he made his request, which prompted him to take the long trip from home to here. 

_"I got a call from one of my girls over in North City and she said she got the address."_

_"Really? That's great. Where is it at?"_

_"Actually, you need to head over to Fort Briggs and meet up with General Armstrong."_

_“What, why?” Ed already thought it was ridiculous he needed to head over to Fort Briggs to get his answer. Why was General Armstrong involved, too?_

_“The general will explain everything to you. She can meet you this Saturday, so you best catch a train to North City soon.”_

The past month it seemed all Ed had done was making several train trips. He hoped this would be the last one for a while. 

When he reached the fort, two soldiers were there to meet him. They took the elevator up to the top level and escorted Ed to General Armstrong’s office. He stepped inside, seeing the general sitting behind her desk. He and the soldiers immediately gave her a salute. 

“Hello, Edward,” she said, looking up at him. She then looked over his shoulder to her men and said to them, “Dismissed.”

The soldiers saluted to her once more before leaving the room. He was now alone with her.

“Have a seat,” she said, motioning her hand to the chair across from her.

Ed sat down, facing General Armstrong. His arms were tense as they landed on the armrests. Years later and he was still intimidated by her. 

“Uh…so, I take it Madame Christmas told you what she had found out.” 

“She did. Before I get to that, tell me why you wanted to know more about this Anna Dabney.” 

“My family and I traveled along with her through Aerugo. While there, we found some alchemy notes inside a cave. She then left us and had someone else stole the notes.”

“So she backstabbed you, huh?”

“Basically.”

General Armstrong regarded him a moment. “I understand your bitterness over her, I would too if she did that to me. Anyways, I’m surprised with some of the information concerning her. Apparently her grandmother came from Drachma, so she has some Drachman blood in her.”

Thinking back to when Anna mentioned she lived in North City, Ed realized she wanted to be very close to the border. He wasn’t sure the significance of that information, though. 

“Why did you bring that up?”

“As you know, I’m always cautious of Drachma being a threat to us. According to Madame Christmas’s sources, diamonds are used to make lasers there.”

Ed gasped in shock. He heard about lasers being a recent discovery and that it was dangerous, like radiation. This was far worse than he thought. 

“She’s going to claim discovery not for herself, but for Drachma.”

“You can see why this troubles me very much. If that country gets their hands on those documents, it’ll be a huge problem for Amestris’s defense and security. I plan to go to the address with some of my men and retrieve the documents as Amestrian property.”

As much as he wanted the notes back, technically she could do that under the reason Anna’s plan was a threat to national security. Ed wasn’t going to argue with her over that. 

“When will that happen?”

“Tomorrow, and you’re coming with me. I’ll need you to confirm the person we’re going for is Anna.”

Nodding, Ed was glad she let him join her. He wanted to see Anna get caught once and for all.

+++

She and Geoffrey were almost done preparing their leave for Drachma. While waiting for him to get some things, she remained in the living room and sat on the sofa with her hands on her lap. The luggage with all the stuff packed inside lay next to her.

During their train ride to North City, she had told Geoffrey about Drachma using diamonds for lasers. Once they crossed the border, she knew someone in the Drachman military who could introduce them to his commanding officer that might be interested in the documents. Anna expected to be in the large country for a while, perhaps on a permanent basis. For now she wanted to take the notes there.

“I think this should be it,” he said to Anna as he came out from the study room and carried a luggage with him. She stood up and smirked.

“Okay, good,” she said. “Looks like we’re all set, then!” 

Geoffrey didn’t look as thrilled as her. “I know you said there’s no need worry about Ed coming for us, but I’m still concern he’ll be able to figure out where we’re heading.”

“I’m sure that won’t be the case. All should be going as planned without any tro—”

She froze when her door was suddenly knocked down and several soldiers in Amestrian blue stormed inside. One of the men immediately grabbed her wrists and handcuffed her. Anna could only watch in horror when she spotted another solider going through her luggage. 

“I got the documents here, General Armstrong!” the solider said after taking them out. 

A female military officer, who seemed intimidating by the hard stare in her eyes, made a few steps forward to grab the documents. She flipped through the pages and nodded to him. Behind her was someone who wasn’t in uniform, and Anna recognized him instantly. 

“Edward..,” she said in disgust, glaring at him. “How did you know where to find me?”

Edward scoffed at her. “I had someone look up some stuff on you and she let General Armstrong know about your plans.”

She never thought he would know someone that could gather information on her. Edward was already aware of her whole plan, then. There was no denying she had been beaten. 

“Is this the person who broke into your house and stole the notes?” the general asked Edward, pointing at Geoffrey. He was handcuffed, one of the soldiers gripping his arm. 

“Yeah, that’s him,” he said. 

“I want them out of my sight,” General Armstrong ordered and gave Anna a dirty glance. She gritted her teeth, upset over her defeat. 

+++

Ed was overwhelmed with satisfaction when he saw Anna being taken away. He didn't expect the intruder to show up also, but Ed was glad he was joining her. They deserved it after all that happened. Once General Armstrong and her army had finished with everything, he returned to the fort with them. 

"I want to thank you for dealing with Anna," he said to the general shortly after they went inside her office. 

"I only did it as I don't want another Drachma and Amestris conflict coming," she said, crossing her arms as she leaned against her desk. A small smile pulled on the corner of General Armstrong's lips, leading Ed to believe she also wanted to help somewhat.

"Since the documents are Amestrian property now, I can't have them back," Ed said, his eyes dropping toward the floor. He couldn't help but be a little sad he didn't get the notes back.

"Unfortunately, no. However, as a token of gratitude, I will be sending you a copy of the documents."

Stunned, Ed's face fell. Did he hear that right? Ed was certain he would leave empty handed. 

"Seriously?"

The general nodded. "Thanks to you, a threat has been avoided. You should have them within a month."

"I really appreciate that," Ed said, grinning. He was getting the documents back, after all. This excited him very much.

"Well, I guess this concludes our meeting. Hopefully you won't make another enemy on your next vacation."

Ed snorted in amusement. "I don't think that'll happen again." Their conversation over, he saluted to her and exited the room. At last he could leave the fort.

He made it to the Briggs train station an hour later. Before taking the ride back home, he called Winry to tell her everything that happened. Ed heard her sighed in relief when he was finished.

"Thank goodness that's all over with." 

Ed chuckled. "Yeah, I'm just as relieved as you are. I also have more great news. General Armstrong is going to send a copy of the notes in a month!"

"Really? That's great!" she said enthusiastically. 

"It is." Glancing at his watch, Ed realized he needed to board his train soon. "Crap, I have to go now, Winry! I'll call you when I make it back to Rush Valley. Tell the kids I said hi!"

"I'll do that and let them know you're coming home. Have a safe trip back!"

Ed hung up on the phone, picked up his suitcase, and rushed to board his train. With Anna taken care of, he could go home and not worry about her anymore. He and his family were safe now. 

+++

Almost a month had flown by since Anna was captured and Winry was happy to finally have some peace. It was a good thing General Armstrong had helped Ed there, otherwise she would have crossed over to Drachma already. 

While she, Joseph, and the kids were eating breakfast, Ed went to get the mail. He returned to the kitchen with a large envelope in hand, having a pleased smile on his face.

"Guess what finally came in the mail!" 

"Is that the copy of the notes General Armstrong said she would send to you?" Winry asked, hoping it was.

A large grin stretched across Ed’s face. Everyone watched as he opened the envelope, pulling out a piece of paper.

"It’s a letter from General Armstrong." He read it aloud. "Dear Edward Elric, here is a copy of the documents, as promised. I trust that you won't lose them as this is the only one I'll ever give to you. Fuhrer Mustang heard about what happened and was amused his foster mother had helped. Again, I thank you for bringing Anna Dabney's plans to my attention. Sincerely, General Olivier Mira Armstrong." 

"It was nice of her to write that," Winry said.

Ed responded with an agreed hum and set the letter down on the table. He then took out the documents from the envelope, holding them up high for everyone to see.

"We finally got the notes back!" Henry said, bouncing from his seat. His sisters let out similar cheers. 

"This is great," Joseph said and grinned. 

"I'll be keeping these in my study," Ed said as he lowered his arm and gazed at the documents. "I might like to look at them again someday." 

Smiling, Winry already predicted Ed would do that. No matter what he was always going to study alchemy. 

Later that night, she and Ed cuddled in bed, her head resting on his chest. She heard his heart beating steadily as his fingers twirled in her hair. 

"I think I'm fine staying home for a while," Winry said as she nuzzled his neck.

"Me too," he said and pressed a warm kiss on her forehead. 

"I still enjoyed Aerugo despite what happened. Daria was great to be with."

"Yeah, she was."

Wrapping her arms around Ed tighter, she said, "Our next vacation shouldn't be a crazy adventure like the one we had."

"I'll make sure of that."

In that instant, Winry sat up and straddled Ed's lap, offering him a deep kiss as she cupped his face. His hands started caressing her back and she shuddered, Winry now lost in this moment with the one she loved.

She wouldn't mind a long wait for another vacation. Sometimes relaxing at home was just as fun.


End file.
